LABOUR has vowed to ban fracking in National Parks if it wins power – after the Coalition paved the way for it to go ahead.

The Opposition said outlawing any drilling for shale gas in beauty spots was key to ensuring the new technology did not “degrade our natural environment”.

A “green manifesto”, published yesterday, says: “Under Labour shale gas exploration will not take place in National Parks and protected areas.”

The pledge follow a much-criticised pre-election Government U-turn which opened up the possibility of drilling under the North York Moors where many gas reserves lie.

An amended Bill would allow horizontal drilling for shale gas under protected sites from wells put up just outside them – potentially for up to three kilometres.

The exact regulations, including other possible curbs on ‘hydraulic fracturing’, will not be decided until a vote in the summer – after the May 7 general election.

Interviewed by The Northern Echo, Caroline Flint, Labour’s energy spokeswoman, said: “It’s not good enough to park well-heads just outside National Parks, which the Government seems happy with.”

Ministers said it was not possible to have an outright fracking in, or under, National Parks, “without unduly constraining the industry.”

They hope the first wells will be dug this year, confident that opposition to fracking will fall away when they were up and running.

But criticism has also been made about the carrying of contaminated water underground and self-monitoring by fracking companies of any earthquakes triggered.

Ms Flint accused the Government of “over-hyping” the potential for fracking, adding: “Nobody really knows how much shale can be got out, that’s the honest truth of it.

“What the Government should have done is set out the framework for health and safety and the environment, before offering tax breaks to the industry.”

In the document, Labour also pledged to:

* Provide half a million home energy assessments a year - to help homeowners understand how they can save money.

* Fit energy efficiency measures in the homes of 200,000 poorer households a year, with one million interest-free loans for better-off homeowners over the parliament.

* Make the UK's electricity supply “virtually” zero-carbon by 2030.

* Make carbon capture and storage a priority to “support the development of clean coal”.

Four “energy intensive” companies have formed the Teesside Collective, to jointly store carbon dioxide emissions, which are blamed for damaging climate change.

They hope to sign up many other firms to develop a pipeline network which could permanently store the CO2 under the North Sea, using a £1m Government grant to develop a business case.