HEREFORDSHIRE Council has admitted that Much Marcle is not one of three potential sites for the controversial practice of fracking in the county.

The Hereford Times reported last week that the village, along with Eastnor and Fownhope, had been earmarked as areas for shale gas extraction – by highpressure hydraulic fracturing of the underground rock – after Much Marcle was mentioned in a council statement.

However, Herefordshire Council spokesman Sharon Amery told the Hereford Times this week that the wording of the authority’s official press release was incorrect and that Much Marcle was only rumoured to be one of the sites – and had not been officially identified by the government.

A government document does specify that Fownhope is a potential fracking site, however, while a British Geological Survey publication also mentions the site of Fowlet Farm, near Eastnor.