The Guardian: Energy company abandons South Downs fracking plans

Campaigners claim victory after Celtique Energy tells residents it will not drill horizontally under their land. Anti-fracking campaigners have claimed victory after an energy company abandoned its plans to drill beneath their homes in the South Downs national park.

Celtique Energy has told residents it will not drill horizontally under their land, though it will push ahead with a vertical well at its own site.

The development, which followed a "legal blockade" by the local landowners around the site, is the latest in a growing controversy over underground drilling for shale gas. However the landowners' victory may be shortlived – ministers intend to change the trespass law that allows owners to refuse permission for drilling under their land, despite opposition from three-quarters of the public.
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