Little Plumpton fracking households to share £100,000

Cuadrilla has pledged to pay £100,000 when they start drilling at each well

Residents living near a fracking site in Lancashire are to receive up to £2,000 each as part of a shale gas exploration payment from Cuadrilla.

As agreed with the government, the energy firm will give £100,000 to the local community for each well drilled.

Households in Little Plumpton voted to share a second payout between themselves with payments depending on their proximity to the drill site.

Decisions on how community funds should be spent will be taken in early spring.

Nearly 80% of respondents chose the option to have the funds distributed between households within 1.5km of the Preston New Road site.

Those households within 1km radius will each receive about £2,070 and those within 1-1.5 kilometres will receive approximately £150.

What is fracking?

Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.

Water, sand and chemicals are injected into the rock at high pressure which allows the gas to flow out to the head of the well.

Fracking protests

In August, Cuadrilla paid £100,000 into an independent Community Benefit Fund, managed by the Community Foundation for Lancashire, which will distribute money to community projects close to the Preston New Road site.

Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla, said: "Our shale gas exploration work continues to progress in Lancashire, helping to strengthen the county's economy with over £4.7m invested in the county since operations began, and now nearly 300 households will directly benefit from our community payments."

Protests have been taking place at the Preston New Road site since work began to prepare for drilling in January.

A public inquiry on fracking at a second site in Lancashire, at Roseacre Wood, is expected to open in April.