ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners yesterday celebrated the “fantastic news” that a shale company has had its application to explore for oil and gas in a picturesque part of West Sussex rejected.

Shale company Celtique Energy sought to explore a conservation area just outside the South Downs National Park, near Wisborough Green, which campaigners feared would lead to controversial fracking.

But the proposal was rejected by West Sussex County Council’s planning committee which found that the site had unsafe highways access and would have an adverse impact on the area.

Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale said: “The shale industry’s clumsy attempt to impose fracking on Sussex has fallen at the first hurdle.

“Save for Celtique, this is fantastic news for everyone in the area and should bring hope to other communities resisting the industrialisation of their local countryside.”

He added that local councillors deserve credit for standing up to the “barrage of propaganda” and pressure from the industry and government.