Geoscience expert claims geology of the UK is unsuitable for fracking

Professor John Underhill, chief scientist at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, suggested the UK is "55 million years too late" for the gas extraction technique to work.

He said reservoirs of shale gas had been damaged by seismic activity 55 million years ago, causing some of the deposits to escape.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves drilling into the earth then injecting liquid into the rock at high pressure, forcing apart fractures and allowing gas to escape.

It comes just over a year after highly controversial plans were finally scrapped to test drill for coal bed methane in Dudleston Heath near Ellesmere, following campaigns and protests against the proposals.

Opponents of fracking claim it will harm the environment, but supporters say it is a beneficial source of energy.

Mr Underhill said: "Both sides of the hydraulic fracturing debate assume that the geology is a 'slam dunk' and it will work if exploration drilling goes ahead.

"Public support for fracking is at an all-time low of 17 per cent, based in the main on environmental concerns, but the science shows that our country's geology is simply unsuitable for shale oil and gas production. The implication that because fracking works in the US, it must also work here is wrong.

"For hydraulic fracturing to be successful, a number of geological criteria must be met. The source rock should have a high organic content, a good thickness, be sufficiently porous and have the right mineralogy. The organic matter must have been buried to a sufficient depth and heated to the degree that the source rock produces substantial amounts of gas or oil.

"However, in locations where fulfilment of some of the criteria have led to large potential deposits, uplift and the faulted structure of the basins are detrimental to its ultimate recovery."

In Shropshire, the plans to operate an exploratory borehole had been contested for months without a final decision from Shropshire Council, before the applicant, IGas Energy, submitted an appeal.

The case then went to the Planning Inspectorate before it was eventually withdrawn in July last year when Dart's licence with the landowner ended.

Earlier this year it emerged north Shropshire could be one of nearly 200 constituencies to face the threat of “fast-track drilling” under plans put forward in the Conservative party manifesto.

The manifesto plans mean that companies could drill and sample a well – often the first step towards full-scale fracking – under “permitted development”, without any planning permission.

The party’s plans could also mean that full fracking applications would be considered by the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol alone, rather than the local authority. However, the manifesto does say there will need to be public support for the schemes, saying local people will benefit financially.