SNP members formed a group yesterday to press the Scottish government to extend its moratorium on fracking ahead of their party’s conference next month.

Smaug (SNP Members Against Unconventional Gas) is “awakening to save us from the confused priorities that lead us to damage the very resources that we need to live” according to the founders with an apparent fondness for Tolkien’s dragon, who also want to “protect the wee inhabitants of Middle Earth from the long blight of falling house prices.”

But Labour accused the SNP of trying to “face both ways on fracking.”

Scottish Labour environmental justice spokewoman Sarah Boyack said: “During the general election, SNP MPs campaigned on an anti-fracking platform, but behind the scenes there are allegations that big businesses are getting nods and winks from senior SNP ministers that Scotland was open for business on fracking.”

And Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: “Communities across Scotland have a right to know, well before next year’s election, what policy the SNP will pursue if they are re-elected.”

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, he insisted: “Unconventional gas extraction, whether it’s fracking or underground coal gasification, isn’t wanted.”