Cuadrilla scales back on drilling ahead of protests

The firm said it was acting on police advice to wind down its work, with up to 1,000 extra activists due to descend on the area.

As barbed wire and security fences went up around the drilling site, camp organisers No Dash for Gas warned there will be “direct action” – prompting fears of clashes between protesters and police.

Dame Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer, is one of the protestors on site “I’m anti-fracking and I’m here to protest,” she told reporters. “There has been no debate. They are trying to rush this thing through, for what?”

Some locals however have complained about the arrival of outside protestors and the influx due this weekend. Derek Earl, 71, said: “I’m in the middle on the fracking debate, neither for nor against, but what I’m fed up with is the anti-frackers’ behaviour.

“This lot have tunnel vision and they won’t listen to anyone else’s view. What is annoying is when they say that the overwhelming majority of the village supports them. They don’t.

“I’m against all these rent-a-mobs who go to every protest going.”

Already around 40 people have been arrested since the anti-fracking protests sprang up on the outskirts of the West Sussex village three weeks ago.

Scaling back operations

Sussex police have thrown up a daily security operation and relied on help from outside forces as activists set up a round-the-clock camp outside the main entrance to the drilling operation.

A Cuadrilla statement said: “After taking advice from Sussex police, Cuadrilla is scaling back operations ahead of this weekend’s No Dash for Gas event.

“During this time, our main concern is the safety of our staff, Balcombe’s residents and the protesters following threats of direct action against the exploration site.

Cuadrilla is scaling back operations ahead of this weekend’s No Dash for Gas event… We will resume full operations as soon as it is safe. Cuadrilla statement

“We will resume full operations as soon as it is safe to do so.”

The “Reclaim the Power” camp in Balcombe had been planned to take place at West Burton power station in Nottinghamshire. It was held there last year, leading to the power station’s closure and the arrest of 21 people.

But organisers switched this year’s camp to Balcombe, with No Dash for Gas saying it will attract a coalition of climate, anti-austerity and fuel poverty activists.

The group said the camp will see skills shared in campaign building and direct action, as well as talks, assemblies and workshops.

Read more: We will stick to fracking plan, says Cuadrilla boss

‘Dirty and dangerous’

No Dash for Gas said: “There are two stories that could emerge from Balcombe this summer.

“It could be the place that paved the way for a dirty and dangerous method of fuel extraction to tear up the country, or it could be the place where a group of ordinary people inspired the world by taking back the power.

“We are here, together with dedicated people from Balcombe, to make sure that it’s the latter.”

Concerns about the camp led the chairman of Balcombe parish council, Alison Stevenson, to urge people planning to break the law to stay away.

No intention to break law

In an open letter, Ms Stevenson said the village strongly opposed anyone planning to take part in illegal activity.

No Dash for Gas said that although people planned to take part in direct action, there was no intention to break the law or cause violence.

Superintendent Lawrence Hobbs, of Sussex police, said: “We are acutely aware of the impact that this is having on the residents of Balcombe and back their call to protesters not to engage in any criminal activity in the pursuit of their aims.

Read more: Q+A: is fracking the answer to our energy needs?

“Indeed, our engagement with Balcombe people who are protesting at the site and the vast majority of those who have travelled from further afield has been mutually rewarding and we have been able to facilitate their right to assemble and protest.

“This is enabling us to keep disruption to the local community to a minimum possible level, while maintaining the difficult balance of meeting the rights and wishes of all those involved.

“We will continue to facilitate peaceful protest, but newcomers to the site should be aware that if they commit criminal offences then we will collect the evidence and they will be arrested.”

Cuadrilla announced this week that it is “unlikely” to turn the area into a fossil fuel production site, but its statement failed to appease anti-fracking campaigners.

Read more: Super-glued pair halt work at Sussex fracking site