BOLTON’S Conservative MP said he is prepared to fight his government on the issue of fracking.

The Bolton West MP reaffirmed his commitment to oppose the controversial method of shale gas extraction in his constituency, following a landmark decision in Lancashire last week.

Communities secretary Sajid Javid overruled a decision made by Lancashire County Council which means drilling firm Cuadrilla will be permitted to carry out the process at a site in Little Plumpton.

Campaigners are against the process because they believe it carries potential risks — including the contamination of water supplies and soil and the creation of earth tremors.

But the government believes shale gas extraction will create thousands of jobs and deliver more secure energy supplies

Despite the Tory government’s stance on fracking, Mr Green — who was elected in 2015 — said he will stand by his opposition to it if applications are made in his constituency.

He said: “My position is still the same — I am going to look after the interests of my constituents and I cannot foresee any point in the future where I will support fracking in the constituency.”

He laid the blame for the Little Plumpton decision at the door of the local councillors, adding: “It was for the county councillors to come up with arguments to say no to fracking and in that case they could not mount a good enough argument against it.”

There is no guarantee that a fracking application will arrive in Bolton West, but last year drilling firm Osprey was offered a licence to carry out test drilling in large swathes of the constituency — including Horwich, Blackrod, Rivington and Belmont.

Mr Green added: “There may never actually be plans for fracking in Bolton West, we don’t know if that will happen.

“But if there is, I will work with local residents, community groups and the local council to ensure that our arguments are robust.

“We will make sure that it never gets to a stage where the decision has to be made in London, because our argument here in Bolton West was too weak.”

Bolton Council has previously stated that it will object all applications on fracking in the borough 'as a starting point'.