Thousands of people around the country have joined legal moves to block shale gas companies from fracking under their properties.
Monthly numbers signing up to the Wrongmove legal platform to deny permission to drill under their land and homes soared more than three-fold between February and March, as the Government talked up fracking in the UK in response to the Ukraine crisis.
More than 42,000 people have now signed up to the legal block, according to figures from environmental campaigners Greenpeace, who set up the scheme.
Under current legislation, shale gas firms must get permission from land and homeowners to drill under their land, or obtain special permission from a court.
But the Government is thought to be considering changing trespass laws to make it easier for companies to drill without landowners’ permission.
What next for the fracking debate in the UK? Watch our video below
In the North West where potential fracking sites have already been unveiled, 9,000 people signed up to block shale gas drilling on the Wrongmove site, Greenpeace said.
And in the South East, another region where sites have already been earmarked for potential fracking, 7,000 people have signed up to the legal block.
The signatories include hundreds of homeowners living close to the two fracking sites recently announced by energy company Cuadrilla in Lancashire and ones owned by Celtique Energie in Sussex, Greenpeace said.
Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale said: “Every time ministers open their mouths about fracking more people rush to join our legal block to defend Britain’s homes from this destructive industry.
“Having failed to convince the public that fracking is safe, ministers are now aiming to tear down the last legal bulwark left to homeowners.
“This high-handed attempt to bulldoze fracking through will turn into an election minefield for the Tories in many of their rural strongholds.”
And he said: “With fracking, British people are being sold a quack cure to our very real energy woes.
“The Energy Secretary said shale gas won’t bring down energy bills; the fracking lobby itself admitted production is years away; and ministers’ fanciful claims on job creation have been discredited by the government’s own experts.
“The Government is ignoring the real solutions to boost our energy security, like slashing energy waste and promoting clean technologies, to chase a dangerous pipe dream.”
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