Energy company Chevron has been forced to suspend its plans to drill an exploration well for shale gas in the village of Pungesti in eastern Romania after the local community blocked the company's trucks from entering the area.

For four days last week many of the village's inhabitants, most of whom are elderly farmers, occupied the road leading into the fields earmarked for Chevron's construction site. Settling in for the long haul, they erected makeshift tents while those who had arrived by cart let their horses graze in the field.

The protests at Pungesti, a deeply religious area of Romania, have had the backing of Orthodox priests since the beginning and, as villagers kneeled in the road chanting prayers and demands, the protests promised to be peaceful.

The police and gendarmerie increased their presence and created an exclusion zone, for a while preventing any other protesters from entering the area. When the trucks tried to move in, events turned violent.

As the villagers formed a human chain across the road, the police moved in, pushing their way through the crowd. A man in his 70s was forced to the ground and trampled over. He was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Following Romanian media coverage, by Thursday lunchtime Chevron had announced the suspension of its activities in the area and started to withdraw its trucks. In a statement to the Guardian, a spokesperson for the company said: "Chevron is committed to building constructive and positive relationships with the communities where we operate and we will continue our dialogue with the public, local communities and authorities on our projects."

But the company also said it plans to pursue other exploration operations, and did not rule out the possibility of returning to Pungesti.

In 2010, Chevron signed a deal with the Romanian government giving it leases for more than two million acres of land in Romania, which it says could hold enough shale gas to make Romania energy independent.

Since the deal's existence leaked last year, protests against fracking have been ongoing, with Romanians second only to the French in opposition to fracking for shale gas, according to a public consultation carried out by the European Commission. Besides environmental concerns, people are angry that Romania would receive some of the smallest royalties in Europe, while the money goes directly to the central government, instead of the local community.

The Romanian fight against fracking is part of a bigger movement that includes opposition to controversial gold mine project Rosia Montana.

At Pungesti, the protesters say they will keep fighting in what they see as a biblical challenge. Father Vasile Lăiu, a central figure in the anti-fracking campaign, in a speech in his church earlier this year, warned against "contemporary invaders", saying: "You can make this parallel: an invading army and foreign corporations; enemy chieftains and corporate managers; traitors and lobbyists."