'Swampys’ dig tunnels to sabotage 18 week fracking bid
FRACKING protesters have dug a network of tunnels in a bid to halt exploration work – more than 300ft underground.
Fracking protestors dug a network of tunnels up to 300ft deep to exploit the work of engineers
They have spent three months with shovels and spades to create a massive warren to hamper the work of engineers.
Europa Oil & Gas has been given permission to carry out 18 weeks of exploratory drilling at Leith Hill, near Dorking, Surrey.
They are quite complex and highly dangerous.
Rescue teams sent to evict 30 protesters on Wednesday were surprised by the scale of the tunnels.
Paul Faulding, in charge of the operation, said: “We knew there was one tunnel, but we didn’t realise the extent. It’s a massive network of tunnels.
“They are quite complex and highly dangerous.”
Rescue teams were sent to evict 30 protestors from the Surrey area
One worker compared the protesters to “Swampy”, the environmental campaigner who helped dig tunnels under an extension to the A30 in Devon.
He said: “I’ve not seen anything like this since Swampy. It’s ridiculous. “They must have spent hundreds of hours digging.”
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A copy of Disco Dave’s Tunnelling Guide, a manual favoured by protesters hoping to delay fracking projects, was discovered.
Rescue teams returned to the site yesterday to remove the remaining protesters from the site.
Protestors spent three months digging the network tunnels to sabotage an 18-week deal of drilling
Mr Faulding added: “It’s a privately paid-for project. They are trying to cost the oil company a lot of money.