Protesters have blockaded the entrance to a fracking site as part of a month of action to resist the controversial drilling process.
The group of 13 protesters, including three local councillors, arrived at the site on Preston New Road in Fylde, Lancashire, in the early hours of Monday morning and locked themselves to objects in an attempt to prevent vehicles entering the site.
Lancashire county councillor Gina Dowding said: “It’s abundantly clear that when it comes to fracking, local councils have been rendered weak and helpless. I feel I need to be here with the community to say that we won’t roll over and accept this.
“We are putting our bodies on the line because our voices haven’t been heard.”
Kirkham town councillor Miranda Cox said: “When your community and family is threatened, you are often left with little choice but to take direct action.
“As a councillor and member of this community, I have been left with no more alternatives.
“I feel our way of life locally is under attack by an industry that, backed by a distant central government, is seeking to turn Fylde and Lancashire into the largest gas field in Europe. I cannot stand by and allow this mass industrialisation to happen.”
The protest is part of a month of action organised by campaign group Reclaim the Power to resist fracking in Lancashire.
Lancashire police said officers were in attendance at the site.
The site, run by developer Cuadrilla, was refused planning permission by Lancashire County Council in 2015, but permission was later granted following an appeal and a planning inquiry.
In April, campaign groups lost a High Court action to overturn the decision.