THREE anti-fracking campaigners from Herefordshire travelled to Lancashire to join the fight against fracking.

David Straker, John Perkins and Rick Guest joined 200 other people from around the country on the front of the fracking line at Preston New Road.

The site has been home to hundreds of protesters since last October, when the government permitted energy company Cuadrilla to frack for unconventional gas and oil at the site.

Drilling is due to start within a month and the three county residents joined fracking protestors last week.

Rick, who walked from Hereford to London last year in protest at the government's decision to allow fracking in the Wye valley AONB at Symonds Yat, said: ''We were there because fracking is a national issue affecting us all. It is totally unnecessary, risks damaging precious water supplies and devastating the local environment.

"It also produces a fossil fuel which we all know will contribute to the runaway climate change we are experiencing. As for drilling so close to a known earthquake zone, it's unbelievable."

He said they will return to the protest site.

The government believes that shale gas has the potential to provide the UK with greater energy security, growth and jobs and is encouraging "safe and environmentally sound exploration to determine this potential."