A DROP-IN event about fracking will be staged in York tomorrow by a group of agencies - with protesters set to stage their own information event at the same location.

The Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Oil and Gas Authority, and Public Health England are hosting the event at Merchant Taylors Hall, Aldwark, York, between 2pm and 7pm.

A spokesman said these agencies worked together to assess the impacts of the oil and gas industry, to oversee industry operations, and to ensure that any exploration and development, including fracking, was done in a way that did not put people or the environment at risk of harm.

“The drop-in session is one of a series of events that offer local residents, businesses and other interested parties in North Yorkshire an opportunity to find out about agencies’ roles and to ask questions and discuss any issues or concerns they have about onshore oil and gas development ahead of any future applications to develop operations in the area.”

The campaign group Frack Free York said it would be holding an additional information event at the same location.

“We will be giving out information relating to fracking and helping people to ‘translate’ some of the more technical aspects of the regulators information, aking questions of the regulators directly, as participants of the event, and providing lists of pre-prepared questions which will direct people to what are, in our opinion, the most pressing matters which regulators have so far failed to answer sufficiently,” said spokesperson Leigh Coghill.

Leigh said example questions included: how will waste water from oil and gas wells, including fracking, be disposed of and is climate change taken into account when granting environmental permits for oil and gas wells?