Fracking demo group cleared

TEN Greenpeace activists charged over a fracking protest were acquitted yesterday.

They had sat down in front of the Cuadrilla shale gas exploration site for eight hours, Blackpool Magistrates Court heard.

However, the group failed to stop 11 HGVs leaving the site near Blackpool in May.

The group refused to move when given a police warning and were later charged with wilfully obstructing the highway alongside the base. Finding them not guilty, District Judge Jeff Brailsford said that they had not caused any disruption on the road and the protesters – all of whom denied the charges – had an ‘established lawful excuse’.