An official online petition is calling on the government to ban “small-scale fracking” for onshore oil and gas.

The petition, launched two days ago by people in a North Yorkshire village opposing plans for the process, has so far attracted more than 930 signatures.

The government responds to petitions which get 10,000 signatures within six months. At 100,000 signatures, the issue is considered for a parliamentary debate.

A moratorium in 2019 prevented fracking operations in England that used larger volumes of liquid.

This followed earthquakes caused by fracking by Cuadrilla at its Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire.

But the moratorium did not cover operations planning to use under 1,000m3 of fluid per stage or 10,000m3 in total.

Since then, opponents of all forms of fracking have described this as a legal loophole. They have urged government to include smaller-scale operations in the moratorium or ban them completely.

The latest calls have come from the village of Burniston, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and in the North Yorkshire Heritage Coast.

Europa Oil & Gas has applied for planning permission for a proppant squeeze at Burniston. The company has repeatedly argued that its plans are not fracking.

It proposes to use up to 500m3 at each fracturing stage. It will inject the liquid at pressures high enough to fracture rocks, allowing gas to flow more easily.

In Burniston, the proppant squeeze and concerns about earthquakes were in the top 10 reasons to object to the application in the 1,400+ comments to a public consultation analysed by DrillOrDrop.

The petition supporters said:

“We want the ban to be extended to cover activities with smaller volumes of liquid.”

The petition added:

“Extracting oil and gas will intensify the impact of climate change.

“There are companies who have submitted planning applications to use what we see as “small-scale fracking” to extract oil and gas.

“Little is known of the potential risks of this activity. We ask the government to close what we feel is a loophole to help protect communities from harm.

“We believe not doing so could slow the essential transition towards clean, renewable energy.”

At the time of writing, more than 500 petition signatures have come from the Scarborough and Whitby constituency, which includes Burniston.

But there were signatories from more than 170 other constituencies. The largest numbers so far were from:

• Thirsk and Malton (58), where fracking was planned at Kirby Misperton but never happened
• York Central (17)
• York Outer (14)
• Bridlington and the Wolds (14)
• Keighley and Ilkley (7)

The government has committed to extend the moratorium to a ban on fracking. But it has not yet confirmed which operations it would include.

Last month, the energy minister, Michael Shanks, told Burniston’s MP, Alison Hume:

“We are committed to banning fracking for good and any future decision on national planning policy for fracking will take into account all volumes of hydraulic fracturing.”

Last week, in reply to Ms Hume, the leader of the house, Lucy Powell, said:

“We are keeping under review the regulation of proppant squeezes, which she describes, because those are not bound by the fracking regulations, and I will ensure that she and the House are updated.”

Last month, a parliamentary motion called for the moratorium to cover all forms of fracking.

• Proppant squeeze was used recently at the Wressle oil site in North Lincolnshire and is planned at West Newton in East Yorkshire