Cuadrilla confirmed in a statement this morning that the Environment Agency has granted a second set of permits for fracking in the Fylde area of Lancashire.

The company said: “The Environment Agency has today announced that it has granted Cuadrilla all of the environmental permits required to carry out operations safely at its proposed shale gas exploration site at Roseacre Wood.”

Last month, the EA granted environmental permits for the company’s other proposed site at Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.

Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said: “We are pleased that the Environment Agency has granted our permits for our proposed exploration site at Roseacre Wood which follows the approval for permits at our other proposed site at Preston New Road.

“Following such a rigorous review and public consultation of all of our permit applications by the regulator, this unequivocally demonstrates that, as we have committed, our proposed exploratory operations will be carried out responsibly ensuring the local environment is protected.”

The target date for a decision on Cuadrilla’s planning applications has been set at April 30^th. This follows a request by the company last month for the decision to be deferred. Planning officers at Lancashire County Council had recommended refusal of the applications on noise and traffic grounds. Cuadrilla then submitted information which, it said, showed the problems could be resolved.