BOLTON South-East Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi has welcomed Jeremy Corbyn's underlining the party's opposition to fracking this week.

The Labour leader visited protestors at the UK's only operating shale gas extraction site in Preston New Road near Blackpool on Tuesday.

He said: "I’m here to announce our support for ending fracking. A Labour government would ban fracking all across the UK.

"I want to see a green industrial revolution in Britain."

Ms Qureshi, who visited the site in August 2017, said: "I have long been an opponent of fracking.

"I was utterly dismayed when in 2016, the then Communities Secretary Sajid Javid overturned the decision of Lancashire County Council to refuse a licence for unconventional fracking at Preston New Road, making a mockery of the Government’s pledge to put more control in the hands of local councils.

"Following my 2017 visit to the site, I urged Jeremy Corbyn to visit Preston New Road.

"I am delighted that he has now taken the opportunity to do so.

"He has made clear his opposition to fracking many times and it is part of the Labour Party’s manifesto.

It is not acceptable for environmentally destructive approaches to energy to be introduced against the will of the community, purely out of greed. Fracking has a negative impact on water and air quality and poses a significant risk of oil spills, which damage soil and vegetation."