Fracking 'will continue' in Britain

The controversial gas extraction method fracking is to continue in Britain under strict conditions, the government has announced.

Fracking has come under considerable criticism of late after two earth tremors were felt near Blackpool. It has also been criticised for gas leaks and contamination of ground water, which forced the Cuadrilla company to stop operations in 2011.

However, a government-appointed panel has judged that the process is safe, as long as they work under strict conditions with close monitoring. Although the possibility of more quakes has not been ruled out, they judged them to be too small to do structural damage above ground.

Peter Styles from Keele University told BBC News: "(Cuadrilla's experts) said there was a very low probability of other earthquakes during future treatments of other wells.

"We agree that (last year's) events are attributable to the existence of an adjacent geological fault that had not been identified. There might be other comparable faults, (and) we believe it's not possible to categorically reject the possibility of further quakes."

Posted by Lauren Steadman