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Kirby Misperton fracking protest camp dismantled

EDDIE THORNTON Protestors at Kirby MispertonEDDIE THORNTON
Protesters have been at the site since 2016

Anti-fracking campaigners have decided to dismantle a protest camp in North Yorkshire.

The camp at Kirby Misperton was established in 2016 after Third Energy was granted planning permission to frack for shale gas at the site.

The company is still waiting final consent from the government and has moved some equipment off the site.

Protesters said despite the camp's removal they would maintain a presence at the entrance to the site.

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A spokesperson for the Kirby Misperton Protection Camp said: "It is clear that Third Energy are not going to be fracking anytime soon, and so the time has come to begin packing up the Kirby Misperton Protection Camp.

"Ryedale's victory is down to the many layers of the campaign working tirelessly together and all pulling in the same direction. We have achieved what many people said was an impossible task."

PA The KM8 well at Kirby Misperton was sunk in 2013PA
Third Energy want to frack at an existing well sunk in North Yorkshire in 2013

Third Energy, which has not commented on the protesters' decision, was given local planning permission in 2016 to begin hydraulic fracturing at the existing well and had hoped to receive final permission from the government before the end of 2017.

But in January, Business Secretary Greg Clark said he would not give the go-ahead until financial assessments of the firm had been completed.

The company has said it remains confident government permission will be forthcoming.

Campaigners pledged to begin restoring the camp site, which is on the main road into the village, to its "former state" said it would organise a formal closing ceremony.