FRACKING under Salisbury Plain moved a step closer after MPs voted to allow drilling under National Parks and other protected areas last week.

The vote, which took place on December 16, showed 298 MPs in favour of the Draft Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing (Protected Areas) Regulations 2015, and 261 MPs opposed to them.

Fracking — drilling and blasting high-pressure water and chemicals into layers of rock to release oil or shale gas — has been a divisive political issue with strong opposition from environmental groups.

Locally, groups such as Keep Wiltshire Frack Free and the Warminster Anti-Fracking Community have campaigned and petitioned against fracking in the area.

Salisbury MP, John Glen, voted in favour of the regulations. He said: "I believe that there are robust and comprehensive safeguards in place that will allow all rational viewpoints to be heard and that will allow informed decisions area by area. We shouldn’t ban things until they’ve had reasonable scrutiny."

The vote on Wednesday was a vote on the regulations, but the next day (December 17) the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) separately announced that a total of 159 blocks (usually 10km squares) were formally offered to successful applicants under the 14th Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing Round.

The licenses give those companies sole rights to drill in an area. This does not mean that they have been granted permission to start fracking, as they still have to apply through the proper channels and various regulators.

Blocks covering Trowbridge, Warminster and a lot of the Salisbury plain have been offered to South Western Energy Limited.

Mr Glen said it would be "wholly misleading to assume this is a green light for fracking".

He said: "As far as I’m concerned this does not mean that fracking is now permitted everywhere.

"This is one single company with the exclusive right to explore a particular area but they must go through a planning process and comply with all laws before fracking could start.

“I believe that there are robust and comprehensive safeguards in place that will allow all rational viewpoints to be heard and that will allow informed decisions area by area. We shouldn’t ban things until they’ve had reasonable scrutiny."

Keep Wiltshire Frack Free started a petition to Wiltshire Council to agree an urgent ban on fracking in Wiltshire until a complete local assessment of the environmental impacts, including noise, light and air pollution and the possible impacts on Wiltshire’s aquifers and rivers, has been undertaken and the findings have been reported to the Council and the general public. The petition has been signed by over 83,000 people.

A spokesman from the group said: "The awarding licences came as no surprise to be honest. We had heard a few weeks before that something was going to happen, a pro fracking report by the shale gas task force and vote in the commons allowing fracking under national parks just confirmed it.

"Hundreds of people all across Wiltshire and the UK have come forward with messages of support and offers of help. It’s a bit difficult to keep on top of everything. We’ll be monitoring planning applications to Wiltshire Council and using this groundswell of support to put pressure on Wiltshire Council."

The government proposals, first set out in July, would only allow fracking to take place1,200m below the ground in national parks, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, and World Heritage Sites. The drill rigs would have to be positioned outside the boundaries of these protected areas.

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, said: “In the South West, we have a number of areas that are protected by national and, in some cases, international law. It is also a region that relies heavily on tourism, so this decision could prove extremely costly not just for our precious environment and landscapes but also for our rural economy.

“The government knows that they won the last election because of the vote in the South West. It is for all of us to remind them that they can lose the next one here too, especially if hugely unpopular fracking goes ahead in our beautiful region."