ANGRY anti-fracking campaigners have claimed the industry is presenting a “Disney fairytale fantasy” of how drilling for shale gas would affect the North Yorkshire landscape.

Frack Free Ryedale has criticised a video released by UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) showing a visualisation of what six drilling pads would look like in a semi-rural landscape.

A description accompanying the video explains that it depicts a real area but does not represent or indicate any plans to locate sites in the area and is purely for illustrative purposes.

However, anti-fracking campaigners have slammed the video for being misleading as it does not include associated infrastructure required for the drills.

Another complaint of Frack Free Ryedale is that the video, which gives a computerised aerial view of what drilling pads look like in the landscape, does not represent the volume of well pads the industry would place in a licensed area.

Ryedale resident Jo White said: “Industrialisation of the countryside due to fracking isn’t just the well-pad you end up with at the end.

“It is also the activity and use of the countryside.

“Thousands and thousands of trucks thundering through the countryside, drilling noise, fracking noise, dust and vibration on this scale is industrialisation of the countryside.

“That is a planning fact.”

Malton resident Ian Conlan, said the video was “nothing more than cynical PR spin complete with a soothing soundtrack” and said it would be more realistic to play the video to the noise of drilling thousands of wells planned for Ryedale.

He added: “With 2,000 lorry movements per well, 20 to 50 wells per pad, scaled up across the numerous licence areas, fracking would lead to the wholescale industrialisation of rural Ryedale and affect the Yorkshire brand so vital for its tourism industry.”

North Yorkshire County Council granted permission for fracking in Kirby Misperton, near Pickering, last year, despite some fierce opposition from residents and parish councils.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, set up an All Party Parliamentary Group to examine the industry regulations and has shared the video released by UKOOG.

Mr Hollinrake said the structures associated with fracking would only be temporary and that the video gave people an insight into the scale of the drilling site and reiterated his determination that fracking sites would be need to be strategically placed. He said: “I have been lobbying for at least a couple years now for a representation from UKOOG to provide visualisation of how shale gas exploration will look like in this country and I think what they have produced is very welcome.”

A spokesman for UKOOG said: "This is a scientifically produced accurate representation of what people in the British countryside can expect on best available plans and experiences in other jurisdictions."

Referring to criticism of the soundtrack, he said UKOOG was limited to what it could get for free.