SOMERSET moved a step closer to possible fracking after the Government granted controversial oil and gas exploration licences across the country.

The government granted 97 new licences across the country which includes nine 'squares' of land in Somerset, encompassing parts of Exmoor National Park, the Quantock Hills and areas near Burnham and Weston-Super-Mare.

The Somerset licences were awarded to Welsh company South Western Energy Ltd and give the company permission to search and bore for petroleum, but they will still need to apply for further planning permission before fracking can get underway.

Fracking is a process which involves releasing gas stored in shale rocks deep below the ground by drilling holes and using a high-pressure water solution to fracture them.

Ministers used a form of legislation called a statutory instrument to allow a vote on fracking under national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty like the Quantocks without a debate in the House of Commons. MPs voted in favour by 298 to 261.

Bridgwater and Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger was one of those who voted in favour of allowing fracking under national parks, but he emphasised that these licences were only exploratory and local councils would have say before fracking could go ahead.

"It is dependent on a number of things like the geological area, the effect it will have on the local environment and the benefits it will bring to the area," Mr Liddell-Grainger said.

"It will be essential for any company planning to undertake fracking in our area to outline exactly what they are planning to do, what consequences it will have and how it will benefit Sedgemoor and West Somerset."

Environmental campaigners have said that allowing fracking goes against the deal agreed in Paris at the Climate Change Conference last month, however Conservative Mr Liddell-Grainger does not see this as a problem.

"The deal made in Paris was to commit to a lower temperature, fracking will not make any difference to that. If anything the resources we could gain from fracking might allow us to close some of the coal power stations in this country which have a much worse impact on the environment."

However campaign group Frack Free Somerset say they are deeply worried about the licences that have been awarded in the region.

"Frack Free Somerset is concerned about the air pollution, water contamination, toxic & radioactive waste, health effects and industrialised landscapes that affect the communities in which unconventional gas and oil companies have already been working, and points to the growing body of evidence and peer-reviewed scientific evidence continually emerging from the U.S and Australia, as proof of the dangers inherent in this industry," a spokesman said.

"We are concerned that the seven new licences in North Somerset, just south of Clevedon, through Weston Super Mare, via Steart marshes, Hinkley Point and onto the edge of Exmoor National Park, pose an enormous threat to the communities and wildlife along the north Somerset coastline."