Villagers tell a drilling firm to step off the gas

By Chinwe Akomah
A planning application to drill for gas on green belt land close to Biddulph Moor has been branded an "industrial invasion".
Ten years after a planning inspectorate dismissed an appeal for a similar application, a Welsh-based company has applied to Staffordshire County Council for permission to re-enter a borehole at Three Nooks Farm in Horton.
Residents near the site off Top Road in Biddulph Moor village have written to Staffordshire County Council opposing Seven Star Natural Gas's bid.
If the plan is approved, the company would apply for permission to install a generation plant in a converted barn house, and use the gas produced "as a clean energy source".

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