AFTER more than a year of steady protests the main camp set up by anti-fracking protesters in North Yorkshire is to close.

The Kirby Misperton Protection Camp, set up in a field just over a mile from the potential KM-8 fracking site, has claimed a victory and is to be dismantled and returned to its original state.

The move comes as Third Energy, the company behind the fracking scheme, continues to remove equipment from the site as a review is carried out into its financial resilience.

However other protesters, in what is known as the Forward Protection Camp, will remain near the gates of the site, where they have around six caravans parked on the verge.

A statement from the KMPC said: “The last two weeks have seen convoys of fracking equipment leaving the site and this week we celebrated as the rig was finally removed.

“It’s clear that Third Energy are not going to be fracking anytime soon, and so the time has come to begin packing up the Kirby Misperton Protection Camp.”

The statement added: “We have achieved what many people said was an impossible task. The odds were stacked against us at KM-8 - the pad was built, the well was drilled and all the necessary infrastructure was in place.

“If we can beat them at those odds, other communities can feel empowered to do the same.”

The statement went on to say that the Forward Protection Camp would remain "to keep a permanent watch on the gates."

Third Energy began removing items from the site to allow contractors to redeploy equipment elsewhere while the financial review continued.

There have been 85 arrests since September last and so far the cost to the police has been around the £670,000 mark.

A spokesman said: "We will continue to work with people on all sides of the issue, ensuring those who remain and want to protest can do so safely."