"There’s so many different concerns people have about fracking, it’s difficult to focus on one, but certainly waste water and the potential for pollution is key,” said Simon Bowens, from Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth is one of the groups opposing the plans for fracking in Ryedale, along with several local councils.

Parish councils have objected and Ryedale District Council has said fracking should not go ahead in the district and has passed a five year moratorium against it. But this planning application will be decided on by North Yorkshire County Council - the Minerals Planning Authority.

Frack Free Ryedale (FFR) was set up by a group of residents in the district concerned that fracking could have “devastating consequences for Ryedale and all those who live and work here”.

They want the UK to follow France and Bulgaria in banning the practice.

They fear it will have a serious effect on tourism, agriculture, wildlife and property prices, but are most worried about the prospect of a leak of contaminated water into their water supply.

“We get 20 per cent of our drinking water from underground supplies in North Yorkshire, particularly in the Eastern part of the county, where there are big underwater aquifers,” said Mr Bowens.

“They are very, very close to where the fracking will be taking place at Kirby Misperton – about three miles away. The risks are that the (fracking) wells ultimately will leak. As time goes on about 50 per cent of wells fail in the first couple of years. That runs the risk of the chemicals and sand which are pumped down into the well escaping.

“Also, when the water is dredged up to the sub-surface to bring the gas to the surface, there are chemicals including benzene, xylene and ethylbenzene and also normally radioactive materials brought to the surface which have been sitting down there for millions of years until they frack for shale gas and bring them to the surface.

“Certainly there’s implications for surface water pollution and sub-surface water pollution which could, for instance, affect Flamingo Land.

“Flamingo Land are certainly concerned about Third Energy’s proposals to re-inject the waste water, using the water time after time for up to five fracks. The water becomes more contaminated each time and that increases the risk.

“What the evidence has shown is the UN Environmental programme has said even with strict regulations on fracking there are still significant consequences from fracking. These consequences are going to impact on communities when they happen.”

Mr Bowens said there were also concerns about the number of trucks serving the site which would be passing through Kirby Misperton and the narrow, rural roads leading to it.

He said earth tremors were also a concern, with evidence of significant earth tremors at fracking sites in Oklahoma.

“We saw the earthquakes in Blackpool. What they’ve seen in Oklahoma is earthquakes of 5.1 on the Richter scale which is enough to damage property,” he said.

“Certainly in Lancashire when they had an earthquake in 2011 it was felt on the surface, but also there was some damage to the wells. If you have multiple fracking wells in one area and you have seismic activity in one – do they check all the wells in that area? What is the monitoring process after that? You then get the potential impact of ground water contamination.

“North Yorkshire is heavily faulted around Ryedale. There are significant concerns about the impact on seismicity.”

But what about the future energy needs of this country? Doesn’t fracking meet those needs?

Mr Bowens said trying to do this by exploiting another fossil fuel is not a long-term solution.

“One of the biggest questions about this is climate change. We know we need to wean ourselves off fossil fuels,” he said.

“George Osborne cut subsidies for renewable energy; how long we will be in that situation when we know from the Paris climate change agreement that we need to get ourselves off fossil fuels?

“They’re planning to drill many thousands of wells across Northern England – they’re looking at creating 25 gas fired stations nationally in the UK, which will have a lifetime of 30 years, so they’re not looking at this as a short-term bridge to sustainable energy.

“To start looking for new fossil fuels under North Yorkshire is completely inappropriate.”