Lancashire police plea for more fracking funding

Protesters at the Preston New Road fracking site

Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner has again called on the Government to cough up its fair share to cover the cost of policing fracking.

The plea came as the Home Office released figures showing how much it gave to county forces to cover exceptional events and unexpected costs.

Lancashire Police got Â£1.4m towards the costs of “Operation Manilla” the programme to police the Preston New Road shale gas drill site on the Fylde which has been the focus of continuous protests in an environmental campaign against fracking.

The force had asked for Â£6.8m as the operation has tied up hundreds of officers weekly since January 2017 when drilling began.

It faced the biggest shortfall with Â£5.4m to find from existing budgets. The next largest shortfall was Â£1.6m for South Wales Police policing a Champions League final.

Today Lancashire PCC Clive Grunshaw said: “This is another hammer blow for people in Lancashire showing that the Government doesn’t care about the impact of its decisions on our communities.

"In other parts of the country we see areas receiving a greater level of support.

"This decision was made in Westminster but residents in Lancashire are being left to foot the bill. Other external decisions, such as where to hold political conferences, international meetings or European cup finals saw a much higher proportion of the costs covered.”