LIBERAL Democrat county councillors are calling for a total ban on a controversial gas extraction process in Hampshire.

The main opposition party want the ruling Tories to forbid fracking on council land and oppose it in all parts of the county.

Newly elected councillors were due to vote on the proposal at a meeting of the full council today, the first since elections earlier this month.

Fracking involves blasting underground rock deposits with water to release trapped pockets of gas.

It comes after the British Geological Survey mapped potential shale gas reserves around the country and suggested massive gas reserves worth millions of pounds could be hidden beneath Hampshire.

Thousands of jobs could be created if drilling companies believe it is worth trying to extricate the supplies, which have lain buried in tiny holes in rocks for millions of years.

The Lib Dem proposal to ban fracking comes after the Tory-run council voted to prevent wind farms on council land.

Cllr Andrew Carew, Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, said: “We wish to send a loud and clear message to the Government and the people of Hampshire that controversial plans to ‘frack’ for potential shale gas are unacceptable.”

The fracking debate has heated up across the country.

According to the Lib Dems, the south coast and South Downs , including most of Hampshire, could be targeted.

Exploratory drilling for shale oil and gas starts in neighbouring West Sussex next month.

In the US, where the shale gas industry is up and running, supporters say it has brought down the price of gas by three-quarters.

But objectors say it is environmental destruction.

Concerns include groundwater contamination and toxic air around drilling sites. It has also been blamed for causing earthquakes.

Cllr Carew said: “It has already been banned in France and there is an increasing lobby saying it should be banned in Britain too.”