Live updates from Lancashire have finished for the day, but we'll be back from 08:00 on Friday with the latest news, sport, weather and travel from across the region.
You can contact us via email, Facebook, external or Twitter., external
Remaining breezy, mainly dry and rather cloudy overnight.
Weather forecast for Thursday 6 October 2016
The cloud possibly thick enough at times for the odd spot of rain, mainly over the hills. Overnight lows of 9C.
Friends of the Earth campaigner Pollyanna Steiner said Sajid Javid's decision will have a "hugely damaging" impact on local people and their environment.
Quote MessageThe government must end its fixation with dirty fossil fuels and focus instead on harnessing the UK's huge renewable energy resource.
Pollyanna Steiner, Friends of the Earth campaigner
North West of England MEP Paul Nuttall has welcomed the government’s go-ahead for fracking at Preston New Road in Little Plumpton.
Image source, PAPaul Nuttall, UKIP MEP
Quote MessageI congratulate Sajid Javid on approving Caudrilla’s plans as I believe that fracking has the potential to make a huge difference to our energy problems
Quote MessageShale gas offers a much better energy source than ugly wind farms and solar panels and as the drilling takes underground it does not create massive industrial blight such as oil refineries.
Paul Nuttall MEP
UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe is now conscious, UKIP sources have told the BBC.
The BBC has learnt there was a UKIP meeting of MEPs at 10:00 today.
Image source, PAThere was a "rumbustious argument" over whether Steven Woolfe had been talking to the Tory party.
A verbal conflict arose and he went outside with another MEP.
The other MEP took off his jacket and went outside the room and punches were exchanged.
It is believed that he banged his head against a structure, a window or a wall but he got up.
Steven Woolfe later collapsed, doctors were called and his wife was contacted.
Doctors said he had two "epileptic-like fits" and they believed there was bleeding on the brain.
He was taken to hospital where he has undergone further tests including a brain scan. He is conscious and his condition has improved in the past two hours.
The co-leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas, has attacked the decision to allow fracking in Lancashire.
Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas
She said the decision to allow fracking "rides roughshod over the views of local people".
The chief executive of Cuadrilla says the government's approval to allow fracking at one site at Preston New Road is "good news for us. It's good news for Lancashire and the UK".
Francis Egan reacts to the government's decision
Amid concerns from local residents who did not want fracking and were fearful over an increase in noise and pollution, Francis Egan said: "I can understand why people do have concerns about it, but I'm confident that when we get up and running... that people will see that what they've read and heard is not what will be going on here."
An energy consultant has backed government plans to allow fracking for shale gas at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site.
David Cox backs the government's move to allow fracking
David Cox from London Energy Consulting said most people in the energy industry approved of the process and were keen to see if shale gas could be produced economically in the UK.
UKIP leadership hopeful and North West MEP Steven Woolfe has been taken to hospital following an altercation at a meeting of party MEPs, interim leader Nigel Farage has said.
Image source, PAIn a statement, he said Mr Woolfe had "subsequently collapsed" and his "condition is serious".
Mr Woolfe, from Manchester, was taken to hospital in Strasbourg for tests.
Mr Woolfe announced on Wednesday he will stand for the party's leadership after Diane James stepped down.
In his statement, Mr Farage said: "I deeply regret that, following an altercation that took place at a meeting of UKIP MEPs this morning, Steven Woolfe subsequently collapsed and was taken to hospital. His condition is serious."
About 20 people are protesting outside Maple Farm Nursery on Preston New Road, in the area where Cuadrilla's application to frack for shale gas has been granted.
Preston New Road protest
Judy Hobson
Environment Correspondent, BBC North West
This decision was never about fracking. For those against it, that argument has already been lost. The government wants a shale gas industry and on a big scale.
How fracking will take place in Lancashire
Rather, this was a planning issue.
The government has ruled that the proposed fracking site at Preston New Road is perfect for test fracking.
In agreement with local planning officers, though, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid does not think the other site, Roseacre Wood, yet meets the planning criteria.
His decision is hugely significant outside of Lancashire. Cuadrilla wants to carry out unconventional fracking - that means drilling wells vertically and horizontally. It's never been done before in mainland Britain.
Using the latest technology, the company says huge amounts of gas could be extracted with relatively little impact above ground.
Cuadrilla expects to begin fracking at the end of 2017. Anti-fracking campaigners could delay or even stop that happening by asking for a judicial review.
They'd have to prove this decision was arrived at in an unlawful manner, and it's a costly process. But residents in Lancashire know it's more than likely their area is the testing ground for a future industry.
Anti-fracking campaigner Barbara Richardson says the decision by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to delay a final decision on fracking at Roseacre Wood "prolongs the agony" for local residents.
Barbara Richardson
While drilling at Little Plumpton has been given the go ahead, the BBC understands Mr Javid is "minded to approve" Cuadrilla's application for Roseacre Wood once road safety issues have been addressed.
A North West-based campaigner for the Friends of the Earth says the "fight continues" against fracking - despite government confirmation that it can take place in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool.
Quote MessageThis is bad news for Lancashire – the community have been fighting fracking for more than five years. This fight continues until this unproven and unpopular industry disappear for good.
Quote MessageInstead of shoving us down a dangerous path that inevitably leads to climate change, the government should invest in renewables and energy efficiency, an emerging industry that could create 24,000 jobs in the North West alone.
Helen Rimmer, Friends of the Earth
“Shale gas has the potential to power economic growth," Communities Secretary Sajid Javid after his decision to give horizontal fracking the go-ahead at Preston New Road site in Little Plumpton, Lancashire.
Image source, Getty ImagesHe said fracking can "support 64,000 jobs and provide a new domestic energy source, making us less reliant on imports".
“When it comes to the financial benefits of shale, our plans mean local communities benefit first," Mr Javid added.
"We will take the big decisions that matter to the future of our country as we build an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.”
Lancashire County Council has urged the government to do more to address people's concerns about fracking.
Image source, PACommunities Secretary Savid Javid has overruled the local authority's decision to reject Cuadrilla's application to develop a site at Preston New Road, Little Plumpton.
Earlier this year Lancashire County Council refused permission to frack at the site near Blackpool because of concerns over noise and traffic impact.
County Councillor Marcus Johnstone, cabinet member for environment, planning and cultural services, said it had "carefully considered" evidence both for and against the proposal, and "ultimately cast their vote" on the proposal in planning terms.
He said a local council was "exactly the right body to make decisions on local matters".
He added: "It is clear the government supports the development of a shale gas industry, but I would ask them to do more to address the concerns of local communities and the councillors who represent them by supporting the best environmental controls."
BBC Radio 5 live
Fracking is like 'key-hole surgery' compared to coal-mining, the chief executive of Cuadrilla says.
Francis Egan speaking to BBC Radio 5 live
Francis Egan has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 live.
The government's decision to give fracking the go-ahead at Preston New Road in Little Plumpton will have "massive" benefits for businesses in the county, a campaign group has said.
Image source, Lancashire for ShaleLee Petts, boss of environmental consultantcy firm Remsol and a member of Lancashire for Shale’s steering group, said it was "excellent news for Lancashire’s businesses and future prosperity".
He said Lancashire businesses were already "working hard" to ensure they will secure the maximum benefits from a thriving local shale gas industry.
Peter Marshall
BBC North West Tonight reporter
When I visited a fracking site in Monroe County, Ohio, the rigs ran night and day.
Close up you get a sense of scale.
Rig 803 reaches 142ft (43m) into the skies. Thousands of feet below lies the Utica shale bed - and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.
It was drilling four wells which took about four months. The operating company Consol Energy says a lot of thought goes in to how they rig up on a particular site to minimise disruption.
They halt truck movements during school bus times. They say noise cannot be completely eliminated but it is a temporary situation and they do all they can to prevent residents being disturbed.
Some residents complained about the noise with the woman who lived closest to the site saying it had spoiled the area but other residents saying they do not hear the noise in their homes.
"Our lives will be ruined here," said Roseacre Wood resident Rosemary Conlon following the government's decision to give the green light to fracking at the Preston New Road site in nearby Little Plumpton.
Anger at Lancashire fracking decision
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid is minded to grant the fracking appeal for Roseacre Wood pending further consultation on highways conditions, the BBC understands.
Ms Conlon said: "We are going to have lorries going all times of the day and night...we will have air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution.
"We are not going to be able to sit in the garden and enjoy the beautiful scenery."
Quote MessageWhat right have they got to ruin our lives?
Rosemary Conlon, Roseacre Wood resident
