Two people have been arrested during a protest outside a fracking site in Nottinghamshire.

The 45-year-old man and 33-year-old woman had locked themselves together for 80 hours outside the Tinker Lane site near the market town of Retford, north Nottinghamshire. Drilling began at the premises on Tuesday.

The pair were arrested on Monday on suspicion of obstructing the highway, Nottinghamshire police said. They were charged and were due to appear in court at a later date, according to Ross Monaghan, a spokesman for a protest camp set up at Tinker Lane this year.

The woman arrested joined the anti-fracking movement after giving birth recently, Monaghan said, adding: “As the mother of a newborn baby, she felt more than ever that she had a duty to protect the environment for future generations.”

IGas, which had started drilling an exploration well at Tinker Lane, said: “The exploratory well is planned as a vertical multi-core well targeting a number of formations with the primary target being the Bowland Shale geological formation.

The well will allow the energy company to test how much shale gas is trapped in layers of impermeable shale rock found at depths between 1,500 and 4,200 metres.

Shale gas development involves constructing a well to drill vertically and horizontally to reach the shale rock layer. A mixture of water, sand and chemicals is then pumped under high pressure into the bore hole to fracture the shale rock and enable the gas to flow out: the process known as “fracking”.

Fracking is unlikely to take place for a number of months at Tinker Lane because iGas will have to apply for permission from the local council and eventually also the government.

The only site with hydraulic fracturing consent is at Preston New Road, near Blackpool in Lancashire, where Cuadrilla began fracking in mid-October.

Three protesters were jailed in September after being convicted of causing a public nuisance during a four-day direct demonstration that blocked a convoy of trucks carrying drilling equipment from entering the site.

The man arrested this week came from Blackpool and had been heavily involved in campaigning at Preston New Road, Monaghan said.

On Monday, three other protesters, including Monaghan, appeared at Mansfield magistrates court charged with obstructing the highway at a demonstration at Tinker Lane in June. They were found guilty and each given a six-month suspended sentence and £120 fine, Monaghan said.