A DECISION to approve a fracking firm’s plans to test for oil in a village after thousands of objections has been condemned.

Protesters gathered outside County Hall in Chichester yesterday morning, before West Sussex County Council’s planning committee unanimously approved Cuadrilla’s proposals.

Campaigners reacted angrily to the news that planning permission had been granted for the work at the Lower Stumble site in Balcombe, located in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Brenda Pollack, Friends of the Earth South East campaigner, said: “This is devastating news for villagers and everyone who wants a clean and safe environment to live in.

“Where is the democracy when over 2,700 people objected to Cuadrilla returning to this beautiful rural part of Sussex?

“Whether it’s fracking or not, dirty fossil fuels must be left in the ground.

“Allowing companies to drill underground for ever more difficult to extract oil and gas reserves is crazy when it won’t help keep polluting emissions down.”

The site was the focus of a high-profile anti-fracking protests in 2013, which saw the arrest of Brighton Pavilion Green MP Caroline Lucas.

Cuadrilla, which explores for and develops shale gas, can now begin to flow test the well it drilled there five years ago.

If the oil flows, the company intends to apply for further permission for long-term production.

Balcombe resident Kathryn McWhirter said: “It seems that whatever local communities say, and however many of us say it, we carry no weight.”

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East and a member of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, said:

“It’s a sad day for local residents and campaigners. Councillors have chosen to place the commercial interests of Cuadrilla above those of their own constituents and the planet.”

Matt Lambert, director of Cuadrilla, said: “The well requires no hydraulic fracturing because the rock is naturally fractured.”

Cuadrilla said the permission only runs until 2021 and work has to be completed within two years of starting, including plugging the well and fully restoring the site.

The company also intends to establish a community liaison group.