Fracking in Lancashire: Ban 'beggars belief' says Cuadrilla chief Francis Egan

The move was branded as having "no rational scientific justification" by Cuadrilla's chief executive Francis Egan. He said Mr Sunak, while running for leadership of the Conservative Party, had said that scientists "have concluded that fracking is safe and seismic activity is not out of the ordinary". A moratorium was imposed on fracking, which uses high-pressure liquid to release gas from shale formations, after a series of earthquakes at the UK's only shale wells at Preston New Road, at Little Plumpton in Fylde, Lancashire, in 2019. There are potential shale reserves across northern England, but fracking firms could also seek to drill in southern areas where gas might be found.

Mr Egan said: "In the middle of an energy and cost of living crisis, when the UK and Europe is increasingly reliant on shale gas shipped across the Atlantic and liquified gas from Qatar to keep the lights on, it beggars belief that our Government should reintroduce a moratorium on exploring for and producing our own shale gas. This new Government is turning its back on an industry that has the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs across the North of England, generate billions in private sector investment, and provide local councils with much-needed tax revenue. The industry has recently unveiled a community dividend package worth hundreds of millions of pounds per producing shale gas sites. This is money which would go directly towards helping local households and families, yet this announcement will prevent red wall communities benefitting from their own natural resources."

During his first Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said he was committed to the effective ban on fracking set out in the 2019 general election manifesto. The move to re-instate the ban had been greeted with with delight by campaigners who fought a long campaign against the controversial fracking operation. Nick Danby, of Frack Free Lancashire, said this week: “This has been a long drawn out fight for the community over the past 11 years and we’ve seen off two moratoriums. We would always fight this and the Government knows that.”

It had appeared at the beginning of the year that more than a decade of controversy over fracking in England was ending, with news that the only two shale wells in the country were to be abandoned. Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted calls for a rethink, and Conservative former prime minister Liz Truss lifted the ban in September during her brief spell in office. Confirmation that the fracking ban was being re-imposed, just a little over a month after it had been lifted, was made by Business Secretary Grant Shapps in a written ministerial statement on Thursday.

In his written statement, Mr Shapps said that "forecasting the occurrence of large earthquakes and their expected magnitude owing to shale gas extraction remains a challenge with significant uncertainty". He said the Government would "again take a presumption against issuing any further hydraulic fracturing consents" and this is "an effective moratorium".