Campaigning residents hit out at pro-fracking peer Lord Lawson as they launched a High Court battle to block planning consent for further works linked to fracking in their village.

Their lawyer told a judge the permission granted in May this year affecting Lower Stumble in Balcombe, was wrong.

At a hearing yesterday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, David Wolfe QC said the decision was fatally flawed by "errors of law".

In one of the first fracking legal challenges, the Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association (FFBRA) is asking Mr Justice Gilbart to quash the permission granted by West Sussex County Council to energy firm Cuadrilla.

The county council is defending its decision before the judge, arguing that it was lawfully made and is not open to legal challenge.

Law firm Leigh Day, which is representing the campaigners, said planning permission was granted "despite massive objection to the development".

Cuadrilla was allowed to return to Balcombe after previously being given the go-ahead to frack for oil and gas.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rocks.

Opponents fear it could harm water resources, cause small earthquakes, and that the development of sites would cause noise and traffic.

Environmentalists also argue extraction could contribute to man-made climate change.

In the same month the Balcombe permission was granted, former Tory chancellor Lord Lawson called for shale gas extraction to become an urgent national priority.

Before today's legal battle began, FFBRA chairman Charles Metcalfe described the Conservative peer as the "archetypal climate change denier".

Mr Metcalfe added: "It is astonishing he is still peddling a now scientifically discredited line of opinion."

Ugo Hayter, from the human rights team at Leigh Day, said: "We remain confident that the court will rule that this planning permission was granted unlawfully.

"Our clients are greatly concerned that this operation risks polluting the aquifer and nearby reservoir and flies in the face of overwhelming community opposition."

Sue Taylor, a Balcombe resident and campaigner, said: "This planning consent sets a dangerous precedent that the concerns of the local community can be ignored even though it is their health and safety that is at risk.

"Flaring from oil wells close to residential areas poses an unacceptable threat to human health."

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, who is supporting the association's case, said: "The more residents understand of the risks associated with fracking, the less they want it in their area.

"I hope the judge takes this into account and rules in favour of the majority of people who oppose fracking in the Balcombe area."

He added: "Clean renewable energy remains the long-term answer to climate change but by giving the go-ahead to fracking, the Government is short-sightedly leading the country into a dead-end energy policy."

Brenda Pollack, Friends of the Earth South East campaigner, said: "This is an important case to watch in terms of stopping fracking in its tracks in the UK.

"Residents have been dealt a rough hand in this case. The council appears to have ignored local people's wishes.

"Balcombe is a small village and the majority of residents have said no to oil exploration on their doorstep. Nearly 900 objections were received, with only nine supporting it.

"Villagers suffered a huge amount of disruption last summer with noise from the drilling and the many heavy goods vehicles.

"They have every reason to be extremely concerned about what might happen here and bringing this case is the only option they have to halt the scheme."

A spokesman for Cuadrilla said: "The analysis of the samples obtained from the exploration work we carried out in Balcombe shows that the target rock underneath Lower Stumble is naturally fractured.

"The presence of these natural fractures and the nature of the rock means that we do not intend to hydraulically fracture the exploration well at Lower Stumble now or in the future.

"The permission granted by West Sussex County Council allows us to carry out flow testing at the site which will allow us to ascertain if the oil that has been detected flows at a commercially viable rate. For the avoidance of any doubt, this process will not involve hydraulic fracturing."