The UK government is failing to deliver on hopes it will reverse an effective ban on new onshore wind farms in England, said a renewable energy industry group as it declared it was “bitterly disappointed”.

Hopes soared last year that the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would finally ease drastic planning restrictions that have since 2015 almost totally prevented new projects advancing in the largest UK nation after a consultation was announced on the issue.

But RenewableUK said proposed reforms to UK legislation “do almost nothing to remove the current de facto ban”, with rules on community consent meaning one person could still sink an entire project by objecting.