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| Balcombe oil: Fracking drill site protests continue | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Anti-fracking protests are continuing at the site of an exploratory oil drilling operation in West Sussex. | |
| Protesters blockaded the site entrance outside the village of Balcombe on Thursday, with 16 people arrested there on Friday. | |
| Earlier, two women were arrested during a third day of demonstrations. Twelve people have been charged. | |
| Oil firm Cuadrilla said it would need fresh permission to carry out hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. | |
| The company currently has permission to drill a 3,000ft (914m) well and 2,500ft (762m) horizontal bore at the site. | The company currently has permission to drill a 3,000ft (914m) well and 2,500ft (762m) horizontal bore at the site. |
| 'Where is our voice?' | 'Where is our voice?' |
| BBC reporter Juliette Parkin said drilling was not expected to begin at the site until Monday. | |
| Balcombe resident Georgia Lawe said "90%" of villagers did not want the test drilling. | |
| "Where is our voice? Who is standing up for our voice?," she said. | "Where is our voice? Who is standing up for our voice?," she said. |
| Protester Daniel Lee said: "It's incredibly distressing - this is day two of arrests that we've seen." | Protester Daniel Lee said: "It's incredibly distressing - this is day two of arrests that we've seen." |
| Police cleared the site entrance on Friday, making most of the arrests then as protesters tried to stop trucks entering the site. | |
| Two women were also held on Saturday after an attempt was made to halt a truck. | |
| In a statement released on Friday, Caudrilla said it had been "disappointed by the actions of a minority of the protesters". | In a statement released on Friday, Caudrilla said it had been "disappointed by the actions of a minority of the protesters". |
| It added: "Cuadrilla has followed all legal and regulatory procedures concerning its exploratory drilling plans and obtained the necessary approvals from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and West Sussex County Council." | It added: "Cuadrilla has followed all legal and regulatory procedures concerning its exploratory drilling plans and obtained the necessary approvals from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and West Sussex County Council." |