Anti-Fracking campaigners in Lancashire lose legal challenge
A High Court judge ruled the government's decision to approve Fracking in Lancashire last year was lawful
Anti-fracking campaigners have lost their legal challenge to try and stop shale gas drilling at the Preston New Road site near Blackpool.
The Preston New Road Action Group and Gayzer Frackman - both went to the High Court - to argue that the government's decision to give Fracking the green light in October was "unlawful"
It's after Lancashire County Council initially rejected Fracking back in 2015.
Today, a high court judge in London has dismissed the legal challenges - the anti-fracking group has 21 days to appeal.
Meanwhile, a protester has been standing on a truck at the Preston New Road site overnight - he's been up there for more than 24 hours!
Tina Rothery is an anti-Fracking campaigner from Blackpool - here's her reaction to today's result:
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla said:
“We are very pleased that the Planning Inspector’s recommendation and the Secretary of State's decision to grant planning consent has been upheld by the High Court. We respected the democratic right of those opposed to this consent to challenge the Secretary of State’s decision. However we always remained confident that that the planning consent would stand, particularly after such a lengthy and thorough review of the application and positive recommendations for approval by both the professional Planning Officers at Lancashire County Council and subsequently an experienced Planning Inspector.
This is also great news for all those local businesses and workers in Lancashire that are currently and will in the future be benefiting from the increased revenue and job opportunities that our operations are bringing to the county. Work continues on the construction of the exploration site and we look forwards to progressing to the drilling stage of our operations within the next couple of months.”
Lancashire For Shale say "As far as we are concerned, the High Court has vindicated the previous decision of the Secretary of State and it is the only sensible and logical decision they could have reached."
"We believe that this decision underpins the planning consent granted, and that shale gas exploration will continue to be beneficial for the people and economy of Lancashire"
"We call on the activists to stop disrupting Cuadrilla's supply chain and local road users near to the site, by accepting this democratic decision. Let's move forward, based on the fact that justice has been served."