Superintendent Lawrence Hobbs in response to claims that police allowed protestors to stop drilling operations:

“While we are in full support of Cuadrilla’s decision to scale back their activities during this period, it was their decision, which took into account Sussex Police’s assessment of the likely impact of the extra protesters. For the last three weeks we have worked with all sides in a difficult balancing act to enable them all to meet their peaceful and lawful objectives, whether they be day-to-day commercial activities or protest. Cuadrilla’s decision is a sensible one and we anticipate that in the next few days they will be in a position to resume their full operation and we will continue to police the situation fairly to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”