SHOPPERS were offered a range of toxic cocktails as anti-frackers took to the streets of Darlington last weekend.

Radium Surprise, An Uncomfortable Frack on the Rocks, Muddy Waters and Death by Methanol were among the drinks served up by Darlington Friends of the Earth on Saturday.

The campaigners were dressed as cocktail waiters as they worked to “highlight the cocktail of dangerous chemicals that the fracking industry could unleash on our precious countryside.”

Their efforts formed part of an international day of action, launched in a bid to raise public awareness of climate change and hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

FotE representative Kendra Ullyart said: “There are many ways to generate clean energy in this country.

"It is dangerously short sighted to impose an industry on our country that can do so much harm.”

Matthew Snedker added: “The risks posed by fracking are almost endless.

“It can lead to air and water pollution, it damages the tourist industry and it is unlikely to reduce fuel bills or lead to increased employment.

“Fundamentally, fracking would worsen the damaging effects of climate change.”