Controversial Doncaster fracking site could heat 125,000 homes if ban lifted, says boss

IGas was given permission to develop a site near Misson in 2016 for shale gas – but in 2019 the Government introduced a moratorium on fracking across the UK.

A protest camp was set up outside the development in Springs Road and IGas is now planning to close its site by the end of the year.

But a boss has hit out at the Government and said that the firm could heat thousands of homes this year if plans were given the go-ahead.

IGas development director Ross Glover told The Mail on Sunday: "There is a significant need for gas and we believe we can help, and much quicker than we originally thought.”

“But we need a streamlined regulatory system which will enable us to get this going.”

Another fracking firm, Cuadrilla, is preparing to seal its two wells in Lancashire with work due to begin this week. The Government’s Oil and Gas Authority has set a legal deadline of June 30 to seal the wells.

Last week, fracking industry leaders presented the case for shale gas extraction to an audience of MPs in the Commons.

IGas has said it could prepare a planning application within weeks to extract shale gas in Misson, which could be used to heat up to 125,000 homes.

It is estimated that if the site were fully developed, it could create ten wells that would produce between 60 billion and 80 billion cubic feet of shale gas.

Planning permission for the site ran out in 2020 and an application to extend it was refused. IGas plans to close the site formally at the end of the year.

In 2018, protesters set up camp outside the side in protest at the plans.

One said at the time: “I think fracking is totally unacceptable - its not needed and its not welcome."

Residents expressed fears about noise pollution, water contamination, the impact on the site of special scientific interest, lorry routes and air pollution, the effect on local house prices and concerns that drilling would detonate unexploded ordnance on the former Cold War missile launch site where drilling was to be carried out.