FIFTY people attended a public meeting opposed to fracking Burnley’s Central Methodist Church Hall.

It saw a film about the controversial process called ‘Voices from the Gas Fields’ produced by main speaker and former oil executive Ian Crane about the experience of drilling for shale gas in Australia.

The meeting last week was organised by campaign group ‘Keep East Lancashire Frack Free’ following concerns that fracking firm Osprey’s intends to start exploratory drilling in the former coalfields near Burnley.

Mr Crane called for ‘radical action’ by local communities and a national anti-fracking campaign in the wake of Cuadrilla starting exploratory drilling at Preston New Road near Blackpool.

KELFF was set up after the M65 corridor in East Lancashire from from the north of Blackburn through to Burnley, Nelson and Colne and down the Rossendale Valley which was identified as sitting on reserves of shale gas in2013.