• Communities Secretary Sajid Javid approves plans to allow horizontal fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site in Little Plumpton near Blackpool
• While Cuadrilla's application for nearby Roseacre Wood has been turned down for now, the BBC understands Mr Javid is 'minded to approve' it provided road safety issues are addressed
• Labour MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood Cat Smith calls describes Mr Javid's decision an "affront to local democracy"

The Government has approved one of two sites in Lancashire for fracking for shale gas.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has given the go-ahead for drilling in Preston New Road.

He says the decision on the second site at Roseacre Wood has been delayed.

BBC North West Tonight's chief reporter Dave Guest is in Little Plumpton.

Peter Marshall
BBC North West Tonight reporter

There has been a lot of speculation about how communities will be affected by fracking - for good and bad.

But what's it actually like to live with the industry on your doorstep?

BBC North West Tonight's Peter Marshall has travelled to Monroe County, Ohio, to find out.

Cuadrilla said it would work with the government to address concerns about the company's Roseacre Wood fracking application.

For now, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has turned down that request

Image source, AFP

Cuadrilla has issued the following statement:

Drilling companies suggest trillions of cubic feet of shale gas may be recoverable from underneath parts of the UK through a process known as "fracking". 

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock. 

But how does it work and why is it controversial?

Mike Stevens
Reporter, BBC Radio Lancashire

The debate surrounding fracking here in Lancashire has rumbled on for almost a decade but today it feels like it's finally come to a head. 

There's a real feeling of anger amongst some residents who've got together and gathered at a farmhouse in the village today. 

Despite the fact there won't be any drilling on their doorstep anytime soon, they've long campaigned against the controversial process and say they're still determined to fight Sajid Javid's decision.

But it looks as if the final decision has been made at the Preston New Road site and energy firm Cuadrilla have said that they could be fracking on the Fylde coast as early as autumn next year.

Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.  

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved plans for fracking at Caudrilla's Preston New Road site.

A second site in Lancashire, Roseacre Wood, has not yet been given the green light amid concerns over the impact on the local area. 

It means, for the first time, UK shale rock will be fracked horizontally, which is expected to yield more gas.

Pat Davies, chair of Preston New Road Action Group, has described the government's decision as a "sad day - it is clear to all that this government neither listens nor can it be trusted to do the right thing for local communities.

“It is deplorable that an industry that has been rejected on every level has inflicted itself on Preston New Road.

“Westby Parish Council, Fylde Borough Council and Lancashire County Council planning committee all said no to this application. These reasons were based on facts and knowledge, they rejected the site as unsuitable.  

“Dismantling the democratic process to facilitate a dirty fossil fuel industry when only months ago the UK committed to climate change targets in Paris is another example of saying one thing and doing another.

“Profit clearly comes before people. This decision will be scrutinised by many, not just the people of Lancashire and this travesty of justice will not be accepted. This is not the end. We will challenge this.”

Horizontal fracking can go ahead, the government has said, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.    

BBC North West environment correspondent Judy Hobson explains the fracking process.

Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan has sought to reassure anti-fracking campaigners who say the process is harmful to the environment. 

He said: "We have been through an exhaustive environmental impact assessment on this - we have assessed everything; noise, traffic, water, emissions, etc. 

"The Environment Agency are entirely comfortable with it.

As well as following all of the reaction as it comes, in, you can keep across our continually updating news story here.

Image source, Matthew Lloyd

Fracking can go ahead in Lancashire, says the government, in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.

Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith says it is "an affront to local democracy" that the government has given the go-ahead to fracking at one of two sites in Lancashire.

The government's decision to approve fracking at the Preston New Road site in Little Plumpton is a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid approves plans for fracking at Cuadrilla's Preston New Road site in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool.

The BBC understands he is also minded to approve fracking at a second site in Lancashire - Roseacre Wood - subject to highway safety issues being satisfactorily addressed.

For now, though, that application has been dismissed.

We're constantly pressing F5 to refresh the latest news on the Department for Communities and Local Government, external website - the government's decision on fracking is imminent...

An announcement is set to be made by the government at 09:30 on a planning appeal by gas company Cuadrilla on the two test fracking sites in Lancashire in a landmark ruling for the UK shale gas industry.

Image source, Getty

Lancashire County Council refused permission last year to extract shale gas at Roseacre and Preston New Road on the grounds of noise and traffic impact.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid will announce his decision in a landmark ruling.

A local resident at one of the proposed test fracking sites says she fears the impact it will have on the local community.

Elizabeth Warren from Roseacre has been fighting the plan for two years.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid will make an announcement today on a planning appeal by firm Cuadrilla to test frack there and Preston New Road.

A supporter of the fracking process says there is a bigger picture that needs to be looked at in the debate about drilling for shale gas.

Gas company Cuadrilla was refused permission to extract shale gas on sites at Roseacre as well as Preston New Road last year. 

A public inquiry followed and a report has been sent to the secretary of state Sajid Javid, who is expected to announce his decision later. 

Member of Lancashire for Shale Claire Smith says there are positives in the process.

But, protesters say it uses techniques that risk the environment because of the chemicals and pressure used.