Hundreds sign petition against gas drilling in Keynsham

Almost 800 people have now signed a petition against plans to test drill for coalbed methane near Keynsham.

And objectors are being urged by the campaign group Transition Keynsham to download a poster, pictured, and display it to show the strength of feeling against UK Methane's plans for a site near the Hicks Gate roundabout

Coalbed methane is the gas found in coal seams. Opponents say that extraction can lead to water and land contamination, as well as destroying surrounding areas of countryside, and that as this is the first attempt by an oil and gas company to submit a planning application for test drilling in the South West, it is vital that there is strong resistance.

People have stated their reasons for objecting on the online petition.

One, a boat owner, who spends all his time on the River Avon between Bath and Bristol, said he feared the plans would lead to "serious contamination" in the river and surrounding land.

"The effects on wildlife would be disastrous and the extra congestion on the nearby roads would simply add to the current problem of congestion," he added.

Another objector wrote: "We don't want the country town of Keynsham to become an industrial town."

Another comment was: "This is an unresearched technology that is already known to be having dire environmental and health implications."