THREE people were arrested yesterday near a fracking site in North Yorkshire, police have revealed.

A 65-year-old man was arrested at Kirby Misperton, near Pickering, on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, common assault and obstructing the highway, said a force spokesman.

"He has been released on bail as inquiries continue," he said.

"A 23-year-old man was arrested and has been charged with assaulting a police officer and obstructing the highway. It follows an incident in which a police officer was pushed over and injured, and a security guard was bitten, at Kirby Misperton in the early hours of Monday 2 October, as protestors locked themselves into a metal device on the road.

"A 49-year-old man has been charged with obstructing a police officer. The man was removed from unsafe scaffolding on a grass verge on Habton Road and arrested at about 5pm."

The force said a total of 26 people were arrested at the site in September, with two released with no further action, two accepting cautions and the other 22 being charged to court for offences including obstructing the highway, assaulting a police officer and obstructing a police officer.

A spokesman for Kirby Misperton Protection Camp, set up to protest against fracking at the site, said yesterday that its actions were always peaceful and at no point did they wish to enter into any kind of confrontation with the police or security.

He said: "We ask North Yorkshire Police and Next Level Security to please consider everybody’s safety to avoid the risk of serious injury. Our focus has always been to protect Ryedale’s land and communities from fracking. Long after Third Energy have gone, the police and the community will still be living together. Let’s not burn bridges."