DORSET already has one major environmental battle on its hands, the proposal for an offshore wind farm.

Campaigners and residents will be delighted to learn that they won’t have to fight on two fronts. Or so it seems.

The MD of a major drilling firm has told the Daily Echo that the geological conditions in Dorset are not suitable for fracking. His firm, at least, has no plans for what’s known as hydraulic fracturing, in the search for shale gas. Exploration and extraction in the county looks set to remain conventional. Blackpool can keep the fracking.