CAIRN Energy has dropped controversial plans to explore for oil and gas off the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza as the company focuses its attention on Senegal.

The Edinburgh based firm said it wants to return the licence it was awarded to explore beneath the waters off Ibiza, where it hoped to make big finds but ran into a storm of opposition from environmental campaigners.

Cairn has insisted it takes its social and environmental responsibilities seriously and noted that hundreds of wells have been drilled off Spain.