Councillors to decide on whether to allow the first new English fracking operation since 2012

Fracking operation at Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire, would be the first to gain approval in England since a temporary ban was lifted in 2012

Controversies over fracking have led to protests throughout the UK (Reuters)

Councillors considering whether to allow the first fracking operation in England since a temporary ban was lifted in 2012 have been warned the proposal risks destroying the reputation of North Yorkshire by turning it into an area perceived as “the fracking capital of the UK.”

North Yorkshire County Councillors have also been told about fears that letting the UK firm Third Energy frack for shale gas at a site near Kirby Misperton in Ryedale risked earthquakes and a “disastrous” contamination of water supplies.

Third Energy representatives, however, have dismissed some objections to the scheme as “ludicrous” and claimed "trains cause larger earth tremors than the safe margin [we] have in place".

The council’s planning officers have recommended approving the fracking, while admitting that many of the 4,000 representations it received about the proposals were objections.

The issue is being debated at a marathon council meeting that started on Friday and reconvened on Monday. Councillors are expected to announce their decision at about 7.30pm on Monday.

Peter Sowray, the planning committee chairman, began the special planning meeting at County Hall in Northallerton by admitting: “This is by far the most controversial application we have ever had to deal with."

On Monday morning Mr Sowray, a Conservative, was told by Frank Colenso, a local resident, that he was being "asked to preside over a David and Goliath moment" and should side with the scheme’s opponents.

Kyle Boote, the founder of the Helmsley Brewing Company, told the packed meeting that approving the fracking application would harm the region's successful tourist industry and warned that it would "probably never recover".

“The introduction of fracking,” he said, “Will portray us as the fracking capital of the UK and that is not how we want to be known."

He added that contamination of the water supply would be "disastrous".

Opponents of fracking – in which water, sand and chemicals are injected into underground rock at high pressure to allow shale gas to flow out – have claimed that the process can also cause earthquakes as well as noise and traffic pollution.

Shale gas drilling is only at an exploratory phase in the UK, and in 2011 the Government suspended all such operations after test fracking on the Fylde coast near Blackpool, Lancashire, was deemed the probable cause of two minor earthquakes of 1.5 and 2.2 magnitude.

The temporary ban was lifted in late 2012 after a Government-appointed panel said there might be more tremors as a result of fracking, but ruled they would be too small to do structural damage above ground.

After a ‘traffic light’ regime was introduced under which tremors of 0.5 magnitude or above would trigger an immediate halt to fracking, the Government claimed shale gas could support 74,000 jobs and help secure energy supplies while Britain moved towards a low-carbon economy.

In 2014 David Cameron announced that local councils could keep 100 per cent of business rates collected from shale gas operations and said “We’re going all out for shale”.

At the start of the North Yorkshire County Council planning meeting Mr Sowray, a Conservative councillor, said it was not the committee's function to determine national fracking policy, insisting: "I am sure all members have come along with an open mind and are ready to listen to the facts."

But in recommending approval for the Third Energy application, the council’s planning officers had noted: “There is national policy support for the development of a shale gas industry in this country and this is an important material consideration.”

As protesters listened inside and outside the hall, John Dewar, the operations director of Third Energy, rejected many anti-fracking arguments as "not valid" and "not true".

He singled out one argument, about the use of depleted uranium in the fracking process, as "the most ludicrous claim", insisting: "This is not true and simply ridiculous."

Mr Dewar also questioned the levels of support for the anti-fracking movement, claiming: "I believe we do have a social licence to operate."

He added: "I urge the committee to do the right thing for Ryedale, for North Yorkshire and for the UK by supporting your planning officers' recommendation."

He was booed and jeered by anti-fracking protesters.

The meeting also heard from Andy Mortimer, the sub-surface director for Third Energy, who said the ground under Kirby Misperton was "seismically benign" and that "trains cause larger earth tremors than the safe margin Third Energy have in place".

Ken Cronin, of UK Onshore Oil and Gas, the industry’s representative body, said local residents should "take comfort" that four regulators look at all aspects of the business and have an extremely good record in Yorkshire.

He insisted that incidents alleged to have happened in “scare stories” from the US could not occur in the UK because of tough regulation.