The government's fracking tsar has quit the post after just six months, claiming policy around the controversial process has made her role "impossible".

Commissioner for shale gas Natascha Engel said a traffic light system which halts fracking when a tremor with a magnitude of 0.5 is recorded "amounts to a de facto ban".

She also claimed government policy was being guided by fearmongering and not science, adding that environmental activists had been "highly successful" in getting the government to curb fracking despite its "enormous potential".

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In her resignation letter to Greg Clark, the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS), the former Labour MP said: "A perfectly viable and exciting new industry that could help meet our carbon reduction targets, make us energy secure and provide jobs in parts of the country that really need them is in danger of withering on the vine - not for any technical or safety reasons, but because of a political decision."


She added: "The UK could be on the cusp of an energy revolution the like of which we have not seen since the discovery of North Sea oil and gas.

"The UK is currently spending £7bn a year on importing gas - money that is not being used to build schools, hospitals or fix the potholes in our roads.

"Developing our own shale gas industry would mean money going into the Treasury rather than out.

"We know shale gas can be extracted safely. We have the best regulations and regulators in the world.

"We know the positive impact it has on local communities, but we are choosing to listen to a powerful environmental lobby campaigning against fracking rather than allowing science and evidence to guide our policy making."

Image: Natascha Engel leaves after six months in the job

But campaigners against fracking say it damages the environment, using too much water and releasing dangerous chemicals.

Tina Rotherey, from Frack Free Lancashire, welcomed Ms Engel's resignation and said: "She's utilising us as an excuse to quit a job she's doing very badly and I wonder if perhaps that's the problem - that she's trying to, as a tsar for fracking, push an industry that it's clear we don't want."

Rebecca Newsom, Greenpeace UK head of politics, said: "UK fracking has been a total waste of time, and we can't afford to waste any more of it.

"Ministers should put this industry out of its misery and focus instead on backing the clean technologies like renewables and electric vehicles that can cut our emissions and create long-lasting jobs for the future."

Chemicals company Ineos, which has fracking licence interests across North and South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Cheshire, said it shared Ms Engel's frustration with the government, saying: "It is essential [that] renewable technologies continue to be developed and brought on-line.

"In the meantime, people still need to heat their homes and cook their food.

"Gas is the cleanest fossil fuel, and UK gas has a lower carbon footprint compared to imports - for Greenpeace to suggest otherwise is simply misleading in the extreme."

A BEIS spokesperson said regulations for the fracking industry were fair on both sides, adding: "We've worked to develop world-leading regulations based on the advice of scientists and in consultation with industry.

"We are confident these strike the right balance in ensuring the industry can develop, while ensuring any operations are carried out safely and responsibly."