Anti-fracking protestors gathering in Preston on Thursday rode in on tractors to demonstrate against the controversial plans for shale gas extraction in rural Lancashire.

Farmers joined a demonstration organised by Frack Free Lancashire against proposals by drilling company Cuadrilla to commence shale gas exploration at new sites in the county. The proposals have already attracted over 20,000 objections, according to the campaign group opposing the plans.

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Caudrilla plans to sink eight wells at two sites in Little Plumpton and Roseacre.

Hydraulic fracturing or Fracking is an energy intensive means of fossil fuel extraction, which involves shooting high pressure water, sand and a chemical solution into shale rock formations to break them apart, releasing trapped gas and oil held within.

Although the government maintains that the unconventional energy extraction method will improve the UK's energy security, and shale gas companies claim that fracking has a lower carbon footprint than coal power, these claims have been challenged by experts. Anti-fracking campaigners warn that the process has led to water contamination elsewhere in the world, and that fracking fluid used to break up rock is thought to contain chemicals that could be seriously harmful to public health and the environment.

In July, the government opened the fourteenth licensing round, in which it tendered the drilling rights to an area covering over half of the UK surface area (two thirds that of England). The area up for sale for shale gas prospecting covers all of the country's ten largest cities and includes ten of the country's 13 national parks.

Quangoes Natural England and Public Health England were revealed to have objected to the government's plans to roll out fracking and the NFU outlined some concerns, though the union also said it "understands that access rights might have to be changed so that operators have a right to drill underground without having to get permission from every landowner" in its consultation response. Responding to the announcement, water companies warned that the incredibly thirsty fracking process could aggravate water shortages in drier areas, such as the South East.

Farmers have also expressed concerns about the government's shale gas drive, and have become involved with local campaign groups that have sprung up around the country.

Speaking in July, South Downs farmer Beki Adam said, "This is not about energy security – if this were the case, the government would not sell the PEDL licenses to non-UK owned companies, and this is not about a 'bridge fuel' – fugitive methane emissions make unconventional energy look as bad as (or worse than) coal in many recent reports.

"It's interesting that French farmers immediately understood that risks to aquifers and soil quality were not acceptable, because the damage, if it happens, is impossible to repair."

Also speaking after the opening of the fourteenth licensing round, Cathy Swingland added, "I'm concerned about… the potential for pollution of ground and surface waters from accidents or spills. We have seen evidence of this from the United States and Australia. We need to look abroad and say that we don't want the problems we're seeing [in areas where fracking is widespread], and acknowledge that there are alternatives."

The Sussex farmer said that the looming threat of peak oil is now making unconventional fossil fuel extraction more necessary, and that "There are problems in that the easier-to-access, cheaper deposits have already been extracted and extraction of harder to reach gas is becoming more viable as peak oil nears. Proposed changes to our ancient Trespass law, taking away important rights as landowners, are being pushed through simply to help ease time and financial pressures on the exploiters. Not for our common infrastructure… but for shareholder profit."