THE Scottish Government has announced a complete block on fracking until further health and environmental safeguards have been considered.

Energy minister Fergus Ewing said a full public consultation would also take place before any proposals could be approved in Scotland.

In a surprise move, the decision was welcomed by shale oil and gas producers, including Ineos, the company which runs the Grangemouth oil refinery and which aims to be at the heart of a multi-billion pound industry.

Despite strongly opposing calls for a moratorium down south in recent days, they said they would engage with the Scottish government's inquiries.

Environmental groups also backed the delay but, along with Labour, Lib Dem and Green MSPs, said the government should have offered communities greater protection against the controversial oil and gas drilling technique.

Mr Ewing announced the moratorium in a Holyrood statement after coming under growing pressure from Scottish Labour to give local communities the final say on proposed wells.

He told MSPs: "We have listened to legitimate concerns about potential negative impacts.

"However, we must also acknowledge that some take a different view and see opportunities in unconventional oil and gas extraction.

"We should never close our minds to the potential opportunities of new technologies - but we must also ensure that community, environmental and health concerns are never simply brushed aside."

The Scottish Government will block planning consent for all unconventional extraction schemes until the inquiries are completed.

No timescale has been set out.

The moratorium applies to Scotland's only live applications to frack for gas at Airth, near Falkirk, which are the subject of a planning appeal.

Campaigners claim fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, can cause earthquakes, pollute waterways, damage property and destroy the tranquility of the countryside.

Supporters say the technology is safe and could yield affordable fuel for decades to come.

Despite a geological survey concluding last year that Scotland had relatively modest reserves of shale oil and gas compared with the North of England, Ineos and other firms are keen to exploit the resources.

Earlier this week Ineos director Tom Crotty hit out at MPs' calls for a moratorium, saying: "We need to kick start the Shale gas industry, not put it on hold."

But in a statement yesterday, the company said: "Ineos understands the importance of public consultation to assess the impact of unconventional oil and gas.

"We welcome the Scottish Government's decision to manage an evidence based approach and the opportunity for Ineos to provide detailed information and expertise as a part of this process."

The comments were echoed by Ken Cronin, chief executive of industry body UK Onshore Oil and Gas, who last week spoke out against calls for a moratorium.

He said: "We recognise that the general public have concerns about the issues around fracking and welcome this opportunity to present the facts to the Scottish people."

Ed Pybus, a campaigner with the anti-fracking pressure group Frack Off Scotland, said: "This is certainly a setback for the industry in Scotland.

"But we are concerned it has merely been kicked into the long grass beyond the General Election and the 2016 Holyrood election and in a couple of years, when the heat is off, planning permission starts being granted.

"Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems are all playing political games with this but the fact they have been forced to adopt a stronger position is a victory for the campaign."

Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "This moratorium is a very big nail in the coffin for the unconventional gas and fracking industry in Scotland.

"Any serious examination of the mounting evidence will inevitably lead to a ban."

Scottish Labour voiced disappointment that ministers had rejected their proposal to make fracking subject the result of a local referendum and claimed communities had been "let down".

The Scots Tories opposed the ban.

Energy spokesman Murdo Fraser said: "The Scottish Government's own expert scientific panel played down the risk of earthquakes and other environmental concerns yet here we have the energy minister posturing to avoid being outflanked by Labour."

The UK Government was forced into a climbdown over fracking this week, accepting Labour calls to refuse licences until a series of environmental safeguards are met.

Full control over fracking, including the granting of licences, is due to be devolved to Holyrood after this May's general election as part of the package of new powers agreed during the Smith Commission talks.

The Scottish Parliament currently has control over planning issues.

The announcement came as an online survey found stronger opposition to fracking in Scotland than across the UK as a whole.

Just 15 per cent of Scots of thought fracking should go ahead, while 54 per cent were against it.

Across the UK 40 per cent were against fracking, while 25 per cent were in favour of it going ahead.

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