A Reform-led council has refused to back calls for a fracking ban amid pressure from rival parties.

Labour group leader of Lancashire County Council, Mark Clifford, put forward a motion in a council meeting asking them to back the ban.

Mr Clifford said that recent comments from Reform deputy leader Richard Tice MP about lifting the ban have caused concern amongst Lancashire residents.

Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, has been banned since 2019 after a series of tremors at the Preston New Road site in Fylde, Lancashire.

In September of this year, Mr Tice said: “We’ve got huge shale gas deposits – we should try to see if we can extract them.”

Lancashire’s administration has said that it is being “pragmatic” in case the situation around fracking changes and previously ruled out a return to drilling.

During Wednesday’s council meeting, councillors voted for an amendment that changed the word “fracking” and replaced it with “extracting shale gas”.

The amendment called for a continuation of the moratorium while commissioning an independent review of domestic energy sources.

Leader of Lancashire County Council, Reform UK’s Stephen Atkinson said: “This was purely a political motion put forward to try and scaremonger the people of Lancashire. What we did was to make it sensible.

“In the Fylde coast, it didn’t work, but there is new technology coming all the time and Reform’s position is ‘let’s do this scientifically, so if it’s not safe, it’ll not happen’.”

Councillor Mark Clifford said: “There was nothing to even amend, it was ridiculous, the people of Lancashire have already spoken.

“We do not want fracking in Lancashire. Why does Reform UK want to see the return of fracking?”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• Reform secures historic first in Super Thursday by-election as Lib Dems surge to victory with 7 wins
• Local elections may be cancelled for second year running as councils admit: ‘We WILL get Reform’
• Nigel Farage launches petition to force local elections and stop Labour-Tory ‘collusion’

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband earlier this year said that Labour plans to pass a law to permanently ban fracking for shale gas.

The process involves pumping a mixture of high-pressure water, sand, and chemicals into a well, which releases trapped gas or oil.

There were more than 120 tremors at the Preston New Road site, the largest measuring 2.9 on the Richter scale.

In September, Mr Tice made comments about the 2019 tremors.

He said: “In Lancashire, yes, there was an issue, but when you talk about an earthquake, if you move your chair back and stand up, you’ve created an earthquake – about 0.5 on the Richter scale.

“Don’t be ridiculous, that’s not an earthquake, that’s standing up and moving your chair!

“If you stand up and drop a melon from your shoulder-height, and that hits the ground, you create a seismicity of 2.0.

“That is not an earthquake – that’s the equivalent of a bus going past your door. Get real!”

Our Standards:
The GB News Editorial Charter