The chairman of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, has given his support to the expansion of the controversial “fracking” method of extracting natural gas from shale rock in the UK.
Energy companies say the use of fracking will lead to cheaper supplies.
Lord Smith told the BBC it could be a “useful addition” to the UK’s “energy mix” if certain requirements were met.
But critics say there are risks from the process, which has been linked to two earth tremors in Lancashire.
