Prime Minster Rishi Sunak’s decision to bring back a ban on fracking in England has been welcomed by those opposing it near the UK’s only shale gas wells.
The process was banned after tremors at energy firm Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site, near Blackpool, in 2019.
The ban was lifted by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss in September, but was reinstated by Mr Sunak earlier.
Blackpool South MP Scott Benton said “thousands and thousands” of locals “will be raising a toast to this news”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said Mr Sunak was committed to the effective ban on fracking set out in the 2019 general election manifesto, after he was pressed on the issue at his first Prime Minister’s Questions.