A DOZEN anti-fracking protestors who took part in direct action at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road shale gas site in Lancashire this summer have been sentenced.

The 12, who include Lancashire County Council Green Party representative Cllr Gina Dowding,were each given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay court costs and victim surcharges totalling £270 at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court. They had been convicted of wilful obstruction of the highway.

Cllr Dowding said:“Shale gas is neither needed nor wanted. The UK government’s commitment to go all out for shale and impose this on the British people, and particularly to impose the risks on the people of Lancashire, is nothing short of perverse.”

She added:“The biggest risk to our local and national interest is that of climate change: it is the overriding national issue. I was driven to take direct action to raise publicity and persuade our national politicians to act now to try and prevent it.”