Test Valley Friends of the Earth showed their solidarity with the Global Day of Action of Climate Change last month.

The local environmental campaigners wrote to Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark asking him to listen to the “overwhelming evidence” of the risks and opposition to fracking and, like Scotland, refuse the final consent for fracking in the UK.

More than 200 areas of the UK are earmarked for possible oil and gas fracking, some of which could hit close to home.

Test Valley Friends of the Earth leader Lorien Cadier said: “They may be celebrating the ban on fracking in Scotland but what is worrying for us is that if fracking is allowed to go ahead in England - with licences granted in Hampshire and to the west of the New Forest plus a hotly disputed active site in Billingshurst, West Sussex - it will not only damage the environment but also contribute to climate change at a time when the UK needs to be focussed on reducing its carbon emissions.

“We need to be keeping fossil fuels in the ground and devoting all our energies to developing renewables and alternative energy sources.”

The campaigner also explained that oil and gas operations which are ongoing in Hampshire are having companies increase the years to hold the licences, which can be extended to fracking methods.

Constantly changing legislation from central government is also a concern.

Mrs Cadier said: "They said they would never drill in areas of natural beauty which include the New Forest but then they changed the law, so they can go underneath it and near it now."

While exploration oil and gas licences are issued by central government, planning permission currently needs to be gained from Hampshire County Council (HCC) in its minerals and waste planning authority role.

HCC environment and transport executive member, councillor Rob Humby, said: “Our role as the minerals and waste planning authority, within our jurisdiction, is to protect Hampshire’s environment and communities, while supporting Hampshire’s economy, through the sustainable management of minerals and waste development.

“This is why we, with our partner authorities, developed and formally adopted the Hampshire Minerals and Waste Plan in 2013, which has been further strengthened by Supplementary Planning Documents. Any planning applications for oil and gas development, like any other forms of mineral extraction in Hampshire, will be subject to the solid and agreed guidance in this Plan.

“The Plan contains robust policies on minerals and waste as well as oil and gas development, providing a comprehensive framework for future minerals and waste development in Hampshire to 2030.”

Test Valley Friends of the Earth meets four times a year rotating between Andover, Romsey and Stockbridge.

For more information visit www.foe.co.uk/groups/testvalley/.