A MOTION to stop fracking along West Somerset’s coast has been passed by Somerset West and Taunton Council.

The government announced in 2015 that seven licence areas for shale gas exploration and extraction would be created along the Somerset coast from Minehead to Clevedon.

But on Tuesday evening, SWAT passed a motion that no fracking should take place in the district, including Exmoor National Park, for fear the natural landscape could be devastated.

However, final decisions on any formal fracking proposals will be taken by Somerset County Council or the national park authority, depending on where companies want to operate.

The motion was put forward by the Liberal Democrats, and Cllr Caroline Ellis told the meeting: “Areas around Minehead, Watchet and a corner of the Exmoor National Park were licensed for fracking in 2015. We cannot let drilling happen.

“We do not want our beautiful countryside industrialised and despoiled. We are not prepared to see our water supplies put under such intolerable pressure.”

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