AS anger grows over the decision to give the green light to fracking in North Yorkshire, fresh concerns have been raised over the potential strain protests could place on police.

The decision by the council’s planning committee to allow Third Energy to extract shale gas from an existing well at Kirby Misperton has been met with an outpouring of anger in the county and from campaigners further afield.

Councillors voted by 7 votes to 4 on Monday to allow what will be the first fracking operation in the UK for five years.

The decision could see the company begin exploring for shale gas within a year and if a suitable supply is found, full-scale fracking can then commence.

So far the protests have involved peaceful rallies involving residents of all backgrounds and all ages, from children to the elderly, with campaigners from North Yorkshire and elsewhere across the UK.

But there is concern that with the site being the UK’s first operational fracking site in five years the county could become a focal point for national protests.

North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Julia Mulligan, said concerns about how police would cope with long-running protests were misplaced.

“There is a positive duty on North Yorkshire Police to facilitate lawful and peaceful protests, with fracking being absolutely no different and I do not expect any resourcing issues as a result of the county council’s decision,” she said.

“North Yorkshire Police has the necessary contingencies and budgets in place to ensure the force is well able to deal with such events in the calm and professional manner you would expect, ensuring any impact on local residents is kept to a minimum.

“Above and beyond our usual budgeting there are also reserves earmarked for any unplanned major incidents, as well as a general reserve which is there for any eventuality.

She added: “In the worst case, there is the option to apply to the Home Office for financial support should the costs exceed one per cent of North Yorkshire Police’s budget, or about £1.5m, but I believe that is highly unlikely to happen.”

North Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Mike Stubbs said; “It’s not about the money; it’s about the fact we have far fewer cops now than we did, because of all the uncertainty over police funding we had last year from the Government. The Home Office was hinting there would be further reductions in the police budget, so there was very little recruiting.

“You can have all the money in the world, but if you don’t have enough cops to put out there it isn’t a solution.”

Author and former police officer Mike Pannett said the decision would have other implications for policing.

“I've never witnessed such strong opposition to something like this," he said.

“This will have huge implications for North Yorkshire Police on policing the very people they serve.

“Keeping public confidence and trust will be very, very challenging.”

Frack Free Ryedale said Monday’s decision flew in the face of “huge public opposition.”

Monday’s meeting heard that the council had received 4,375 submissions of objection to Third Energy’s proposal and 36 in support.

Friends of the Earth said that seeking judicial review of the councillors' decision was one option being looked at. Campaigners last night also launched a People’s Declaration over fracking.

Frack Free Ryedale joined with Friends of the Earth in asking people to sign the declaration, urging the Government to develop a “balanced long-term energy policy” to achieve globally agreed climate change targets.

Sue Gough, a resident of Little Barugh, who lives about 1km from the well-site read out the People’s Declaration to campaigners, following the decision announcement.

She said: “We, as people united across Yorkshire and across Britain, declare that we remain opposed to fracking in Yorkshire, in Britain, and across the world. We know that fracking carries serious risks to local people, to our health, our water, our wildlife, and contributes to climate change.

“We are extremely disappointed that North Yorkshire County Council has not listened to the overwhelming wishes of the locally elected representatives of Ryedale and local people and has approved Third Energy’s application to frack in our county. “This decision is not in our name.”

Rasik Valand, chief executive of Third Energy, said: "We are a local company, we see ourselves as a local company. For us, this is about testing what's in our local area."

North Yorkshire County Council's planning committee chairman Peter Sowray said he knew people would be angry about the decision but was "comfortable" with the outcome, saying gas had already been extracted from the site for many years without problems.