FRACKING will be allowed to take place under national parks in Hampshire after the government gave the green light with new regulations.

Although drilling operations will not be allowed on the surface in the New Forest, it does not prevent energy firms extracting shale gas outside of the national park by drilling horizontally across rock.

Fracking is the controversial new method of extracting precious fuel by drilling through rock. The practice has been met with fierce opposition by environmental groups but it has led to energy prices dropping in North America where it is more prevalent.

The draft regulations set out further protections for groundwater and national parks, areas of outstanding national beauty, the broads and World Heritage Sites, ensuring the process of hydraulic fracturing can only take place below 1,200 metres in these areas. Drinking water is not normally found below 400m.

Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom said: “The UK has one of the best track records in the world when it comes to protecting our environment while also developing our industries – and we’ve brought that experience to bear on the shale gas protections.

“We need more secure, home grown energy supplies, and shale gas and oil have a vital role to play – much better that we use what we have at home than relying on supplies from volatile foreign imports.

“This industry will be developed safely with world class environmental protections, creating jobs and delivering better energy security while safeguarding of some of our most precious landscapes.”

Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth reacted angrily to the news.

Campaigner Rose Dickinson said: “It is outrageous that the government has given the green light to fracking under national parks and appears to be doing nothing to stop fracking in drinking water protection areas.

“The sooner the government gets serious about renewables and energy efficiency, the safer we will be – and the quicker we can get on with addressing the urgent risk of climate change.”

A spokesman from the New Forest National Park Authority said: “While we have some concern that the process of hydraulic fracturing can now take place below ground in National Parks (albeit 1,200 metres below ground level) we welcome the government’s clear commitment to ensure that fracking cannot be conducted from wells that are drilled in the surface of National Parks and we await further details.

“In the meantime, together with our partner mineral and waste authorities, we shall soon be consulting on a new Supplementary Planning Document for Oil & Gas proposals that may affect the New Forest National Park.”