According to a new survey, the level of support for shale gas extraction projects in the UK has fallen in September following protests organised at a project site in Balcombe.

Several protestors gathered at a proposed shale gas extraction project site in the small West Sussex village of Balcombe to oppose the project. The entrance to the site, which will be operated by Cuadrilla, has become a flashpoint for the environmentalists and others opposing the controversial fracking technique for extraction gas trapped under the rocks. Cuadrilla has claimed that it is only conducting exploratory mining and the site is unlikely to go under full production.

The new poll by the University of Nottingham showed that support for shale gas extraction in the UK, which has been rising for a year. The level of support had touched 61 per cent in favour in July but has fallen to 55 per cent in September. Fracking involves creating little explosions underground and then flooding with water and chemicals to obtain gas trapped in shale rocks.

The government in the UK has given a go ahead to the company to continue an extraction technique known as `fracking' to exploit gas in the country.