A NORTH Shropshire man who campaigned against a fracking site in the county has criticised the decision by the UK government to lift a ban on the practice.

Chris Hesketh was part of a group that opposed fracking at Duddleston in 2014, as part of the group Frack Free Duddleston.

The Government lifted the ban on fracking in Parliament today (Thursday, September 22), leading to warnings from North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan that millions of square metres of land in her constituency could be targeted for the controversial gas extraction technique.

Mr Hesketh said he believed the government can take other actions to help people rather than frack.

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He said: "As you can expect, I am massively against the government's position on this.

"They really are not following the good sense or rationale, they are just going off on a random tangent or sound bite or some other poor motivation.

"There is so much which could be done, positively, insulating houses being top of the list, immediate reduction our gas demand.

"That is what we really need, we don't need this destruction of lifting the moratorium."

He added that the Government was not releasing a report from the British Geological Society on the impacts of fracking.

"The British Geological Society was asked to do a report on this," Mr Hesketh added.

"Interestingly, the Government is refusing to release its report, which kind of suggests it says something it does not want to hear.

"They have sat on it for months and months and now they go with this announcement and still not releasing the report.

"The fact that they don't want us to see it kind of suggests it doesn't say what they would consider to be good news."

Countryside the size of 928 football pitches is already licenced for fracking in North Shropshire and could potentially be drilled now the Government has lifted the ban, MP Helen Morgan said.

She accused the Prime Minister, Liz Truss and the secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy, Jacob Rees-Mogg of not caring for people in rural areas.

She said: "I am entirely against fracking and will fight against any plans for it in North Shropshire.

"The Conservatives are determined to turn our beautiful countryside into a gas rig despite knowing full well this will not bring energy prices down.

"They’ve given no reassurance that the community here will be able to oppose fracking on their own doorstep which is really concerning.

"Instead of forcing local communities to live with the risk of earthquakes, the Government should be focusing on insulating homes and investing in forms of energy that will reduce household bills.

"Jacob Rees Mogg and Liz Truss are once again proving that the Conservatives do not care for rural areas or the people who live there."

Mr Rees-Mogg said fracking was in the national interest and would make the country richer.

He suggested current limits on acceptable levels of seismic activity are too restrictive and said the Government is determined to “realise any potential sources of domestic gas”.

But academics have warned the UK has the wrong type of shale or fracking, meaning such activity would have little impact.