SCORES of environmentalists from across the country descended on Banks village farm near Southport to mount a protest against controversial shale gas drilling.

Around 100 protesters joined local residents in the village of Banks, north of Southport, to oppose the inland drilling, known as “fracking”.

Assembling at “Camp Frack” for the weekend, the activists yesterday held a peaceful protest near to two 3.5km exploratory wells owned by Cuadrilla Resources.

The firm, backed by former BP chief Lord Browne, is the first in the UK to explore the potential of fracking, where natural gas from shale rock is extracted by pumping water in at high pressure.

Cuadrilla was forced to suspend its operations this summer when tremors linked to the practice, dubbed an alternative to oil drilling, struck Blackpool.

Phil Thornhill, of Campaign against Climate Change, said the process was “exploitation of yet more fossil fuel reserves.”

He also pointed to allegations in the USA, where fracking is widespread, of pollution and poisoned water supplies.

Mr Thornhill said: “Fracking has really taken people by surprise and we want to increase visibility on what is taking place.