VORACIOUS fracking firm Cuadrilla faces a setback after failing to impress Lancashire County Council officials with its drilling plans.

Planning officers have called for councillors, who make their minds up next week, to reject the proposed fracking sites between Blackpool and Preston.

They said the developments would “unnecessarily and unacceptably” cause harm to residents through noise and other pollution.

Environment campaigners welcomed the recommendation.

Simon Clydesdale of Greenpeace said: “Many thousands of people in Lancashire are seriously worried about the potential risks of fracking — traffic, noise, water contamination, air pollution, the value of their homes, to name just a few.

“The whole country is looking to Lancashire to protect its communities from the unnecessary risks that fracking plays with our futures.”

Helen Rimmer of Friends of the Earth said: “Councillors must now act on this and the tens of thousands of objections they have received and reject Cuadrilla’s fracking applications next week.”

Fracking involves drilling into shale rock formations and pumping in chemicals and huge quantities of water to release gas.

Opponents say the process causes environmental damage, threatens water supplies and can even cause minor earthquakes.

Anti-fracking protest groups have sprung up at dozens of sites across Britain and Lancashire has become a focal point for campaigns because of the number of exploratory sites established there.

The coalition government supports the fracking industry and is proposing regulations to override planning controls.