Fracking application rejected by Lancashire county council

Anti-fracking campaigners visibly delighted as councillors reject Cuadrilla's application to drill for shale gas at Preston New Road

Lancashire county council has rejected a planning application by shale gas explorer Cuadrilla to frack in the county, in a major blow to what would have been the UK's biggest round of fracking so far.

Hundreds of anti-fracking campaigners outside the council's town hall in Preston, where the verdict was announced, reacted with delight and cheers, and people in the council chamber applauded.