From Accrington in Lancashire to Yarnbrook in Wiltshire, more than a thousand English towns and villages could be affected by oil and gas exploration under new licences announced last month.
According to new research, the licence blocks released under the government’s 14th round, cover 1,325 places across 24 counties.
Among the largest places included in the blocks are:
- Crewe, Knutsford and Nantwich in Cheshire
- Middlesbrough and Redcar in Cleveland
- Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria
- Chesterfield, Derby, Lincoln, Loughborough, Mansfield, Melton Mowbray, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Worksop in the East Midlands
- Accrington, Altrincham, Blackburn, Bolton, Bury, Lancaster, Ormskirk, Rochdale and Skelmersdale, Wigan in Lancashire and Greater Manchester
- Formby and Southport in Merseyside
- Andover, Bournemouth, Poole, Swanage and Weston-Super-Mare in the south west
- Barnsley, Bridlington, Castleford, Doncaster, Driffield, Filey, Hull, Pontefract, Rotherham, Sheffield, Scarborough, Wakefield and York across the four counties of Yorkshire.
There are also hundreds of small towns and villages across the country, such Ab Kettleby in Leicestershire, West Dean in Hampshire, Worth Matravers in Dorset, Tintern Abbey in Gloucestershire and Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight.
The list of places, which includes both confirmed licenced areas (“Tranche 1”) and those currently out for consultation (“Tranche 2”) was compiled by Adela Pickles, of the campaign group, Frack Free Ryedale, with additional research by David Burley and colleagues.
Find out if your town or village has been licensed
The list is divided into counties. The main licensed places in each county are listed first, followed by the smaller places in alphabetical order. Alphabetical list of licensed towns and villages
Next to each place is the number of the licence block. Clicking the licence link will take you to the page about that block on the DrillOrDrop 14th Licensing Round portal.
You can also explore the licensed areas using the map from UK Onshore Geophysical Library, which shows previously licensed areas, as well as the 14th round blocks.
Picture licence details
Author: Rept0n1x; Licence: 1.0 Generic license.
Categories: 14th Licensing Round
DRILL OR DROP? 
Hi Ruth, Galgate and Forton (both near Lancaster) are also affected. Thanks again for all the great work you are doing 🙂 ,
Best wishes, Maggie
Also missing off the Lancashire list —
RIBCHESTER village (Historic Roman fort and settement on the R Ribble) The geology in that area might arouse the interest of exploratory drillers — thick, folded and faulted Bowland shale has been detected by some seismic studies.
See fig 19 Bowland Shale Gas study (second section on page link here)
Click to access BGS_DECC_BowlandShaleGasReport_HI_RES_FIGURES_19to44.pdf
SAMLESBURY — a “village” of scattered houses in parcels of countryside. It is a thoroughfare of main roads linking the Blackburn and Burnley region to the M6. Also has the newly upgraded huge waste water treatment plant which deals with sewage from the Blackburn area and can now also take industrial waste, Also has airfield (a part owned by Government) and enterprise zones,
Hi Muriel
Many thanks for your comment. It’s very helpful. I’m compiling a list of updates and will add them by the end of the week.
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Muriel
Ribchester and Samlesbury now added to the list.
Thanks for letting me know.
Best wishes, Ruth
Hi Maggie
Thanks very much for your comment and the extra information. This is really helpful. I’m compiling a list of updates and will publish by the end of the week.
Thanks again and best wishes, Ruth
Hi Maggie Thanks for letting us know. Galgate and Forton now in the list.
Best wishes, Ruth
Thank you Muriel for the information through an official govt data. However, we need to understand the importance of these drilling licenses issued which will ‘affect’ 1100 villages and towns. This process is also important for the betterment of the country. Need to deal with it.
Thank you Muriel for the information through an official govt data. However, we need to understand the importance of these drilling licenses issued which will ‘affect’ 1100 villages and towns. This process is also important for the betterment of the country. Need to deal with it