Fracking: No Cuadrilla appeal against refusal in Lancashire

Energy firm Cuadrilla applied to frack at Roseacre Wood

Energy firm Cuadrilla has said it will not appeal against the government's refusal for fracking at a second site in Lancashire.

Its application for planning permission in Roseacre Wood was refused in February.

Laura Hughes, commercial and projects director at Cuadrilla, said: "We acknowledge the findings of the lengthy review process."

The company said it would focus on a site where it is already drilling.

Ms Hughes added: "We continue operations at Preston New Road where we have had high quality, natural gas back to the surface following hydraulic fracturing between October and November last year.

"Our first results were encouraging and our central focus remains there."

Anti-fracking campaigners staged a demonstration outside the public inquiry in Blackpool

Lancashire County Council refused permission to extract shale gas at both Roseacre Wood in 2015 on the grounds of noise and traffic impact, but Cuadrilla appealed.

The resulting public inquiry sat in 2016.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government James Brokenshire announced on 12 February that highway safety issues had not been "satisfactorily addressed" and refused planning permission.