Plans for gas drilling on the Shropshire border scrapped

IGas Energy said it has relinquished a number of licences for gas drilling, including one which covers Malpas, near Whitchurch, in order to concentrate on areas which have more potential to find gas.

The news has delighted parish councillors who had raised concerns that it would lead to the controversial process of fracking, which involves drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.

It comes months after the firm announced it had no current "operational" plans for gas drilling in the Shropshire area after it handed a licence which covered Dudleston, near Ellesmere, back to the Government.

Last year campaign group Frack Free Dudleston claimed victory in its fight against plans to drill for coal-bed methane gas in the area.

The plans were originally submitted to Shropshire Council in September 2014 by Dart Energy, which was later taken over by IGas Energy.

But after months without a decision, the energy company later submitted an appeal. The case then went to the Planning Inspectorate before it was eventually withdrawn in July when Dart's licence with the landowner ended.

Fears of fracking in the Malpas area led to the formation of a protest group which aimed to be ready to oppose any test sites.

Charles Higgie, chairman of Malpas Parish Council, said: "I am delighted to see that the likelihood of fracking in Malpas has decreased.

"A UK Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence had been granted for the Malpas area.

"However, IGas has dropped the licence, and although another company could buy it up in the future, if IGas think it would be unprofitable to go ahead, it is unlikely that another would take a different view.

"Some other local areas such as Wrexham are now not in an area with a live PEDL, although Farndon is PEDL 188 and is still live and so there could be seismic testing by June 2020 and another well could be drilled."

David Petrie, spokesman for IGas, said: "Our interpretation of the 110 km² of 3D seismic data that we acquired last year across the north west including areas in Cheshire is ongoing. This information will inform our future work programme in the area.

"In addition, as part of its ongoing asset portfolio management, IGas has relinquished a number of licences – including PEDL 185 which covers Malpas – in order to focus on core, high potential areas with its partners."

The Government has been supporting fracking as part of a strategy to meet the UK's ever-growing energy requirements and reduce dependence on imported energy sources.

But opponents of fracking point to the industrialisation of rural areas by the fracking plants and the drilling rigs.

They are also concerned about the dangers of subsidence, the consequential reduction of house prices, and increase in house insurance. Water pollution is also an environmental problem associated with fracking.