QUARRYING firm Hanson is seeking permission from the Lake District National Park Authority to drill 11 exploratory boreholes at Shap Beck Quarry.

The holes, which would be sited next to the area already being worked, would be used to find out if more limestone is present, and its purity. Most of the 950,000 tonnes extracted from the 96-hectare quarry each year is supplied to Tata Steel's Shapfell works and used in the manufacture of iron and steel.