Andrew Austin, the chief executive officer of IGas, whose Salford oil drilling site has been subject to several weeks of action by anti-fracking protesters, told the Guardian that the community benefits in themselves would not be a "game-changer" for swinging public support for the controversial technology.
He said that while he "absolutely" supported the right of people to protest, anti-fracking campaigners were causing unfair disruption to local residents on Barton Moss Road, which is by the M62. There have been 19 arrests of protesters, mostly for obstructing the highway. A wind turbine blade was dumped across the site's entrance by protesters on Monday, followed by a bus on Wednesday to which five people were locked.