Environment Agency to build up to 80 wind farms

Among the stretches of water which the Environment Agency is considering for wind farm development are part of the River Thames; the River Medway in the North Downs; and parts of the Fens which rank among the best bird watching locations in Britain.

Campaigners have also warned that one of Britain's most beautiful landscapes will be "destroyed" by a series of wind farm developments being proposed by companies close to Exmoor National Park.

Both sets of plans will stimulate new debate over the spread of wind farms, which critics say is threatening to spoil thousands of acres of countryside while having minimal impact on the fight against climate change.

According to one researcher, Professor David MacKay, a physicist at Cambridge University, an area the size of Wales would need to be turned over to wind farms to generate just a sixth of Britain's energy demands.