Fracking 'legal blockade' mounted

3 February 2014 Last updated at 00:24

Sussex landowners mount 'legal blockade' against fracking

Environmental activists claim fracking can pollute water supplies

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Landowners in the Sussex Downs National Park are mounting a "legal blockade" to protect a potential fracking site.

Solicitors for residents near Fernhurst, in West Sussex, have written to Celtique Energie and the Energy Secretary Ed Davey to explicitly deny permission to drill under their land .

It comes after the government said it may alter trespass law to make drilling under property easier for companies.

Plans to frack were vehemently opposed in Balcombe, also in Sussex, last year.

Fracking is a method of extracting energy, such as shale gas, from rocks by forcing it out under high pressure.

Shale gas exploration typically involves drilling down vertically and out horizontally, often for more than a mile.

Celtique Energie is not yet applying for permission to start fracking, but wants to explore the terrain to see if it contains shale gas.

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Under the current legislation, shale gas prospectors need permission from landowners before drilling under their properties or must obtain special permission from a court.

The government has given strong support to fracking, saying it believes the potentially large reserves of shale gas could reduce energy bills, create jobs, boost the economy and encourage businesses to come back to the UK.

It has plans to reward councils and homeowners who allow fracking in their area.

Last year Prime Minister David Cameron pledged a "simplified system" for companies to get permission for fracking.

Environmental activists are against the technique, claiming it can increase climate change, cause small earthquakes and pollute water supplies.

'Blueprint'

Marcus Adams, one of the landowners involved in the legal blockade, said: "People right across the country have legitimate concerns about the impact of fracking on their communities - from water contamination to air and noise pollution from heavy lorry traffic - but all this happening in a national park just doesn't bear thinking about."

The environmental group, Greenpeace, launched a mass legal block against fracking in October.

The organisation's energy campaigner, Anna Jones, said she thought the Fernhurst action would inspire others: "As ministers' desperate charm offensive is given the cold shoulder, the Fernhurst legal blockade is likely to become a blueprint for local resistance right across the country."

Celtique Energie said there were no firm plans for the drilling site as yet: "The horizontal well is only an option at this stage and would be drilled on the basis of positive data from the vertical well."