Guardian: West Sussex landowners launch 'legal blockade' against fracking

A group of landowners in a national park are denying permission for a company to drill under their properties, in the latest moves to oppose controversial "fracking".

Residents near the village of Fernhurst, West Sussex, in the South Downs National Park, are launching a "legal blockade" against drilling under their land.

Solicitors acting on behalf of the group have written to oil and gas company Celtique Energie and energy secretary, Ed Davey, to say they explicitly deny permission for the firm to drill horizontally under their properties from a proposed well on land leased from a local landowner.

Campaigners say the move could be replicated across the country by communities opposing fracking. It comes as the government considers changing trespass laws to make it easier for companies to drill under people's homes.  MORE