Proposals for 'fracking' for shale gas at two sites in Lancashire should be refused, planning officers have recommended.

Lancashire County Council has published reports with recommendations on planning applications from shale company Cuadrilla to develop two new sites to explore for shale gas by drilling, fracking and testing the flow of gas.

The council's development control committee is due to make decisions next week on the planning applications for the two sites, at Preston New Road, near Little Plumpton, and Roseacre Wood, near Roseacre, both between Blackpool and Preston.

Scroll down for video

The report recommended that the application for the site at Preston New Road should be turned down because of concerns over noise impacts which would 'unnecessarily and unacceptably' affect neighbouring properties with noise pollution.

At the Roseacre Wood site, the report said there would be an increase in traffic, particularly heavy goods vehicles, which would result in 'an unacceptable impact' on rural roads and reduce road safety.

If the council's development control committee take the advice of their planning officers and turn down the applications, it will be seen as a major blow to efforts to get the UK's shale gas and oil industry off the ground.

Caudrilla said today in a statement that it was 'very disappointed at the recommendation.

'After an extraordinarily lengthy period of consultation and review of around seven months we are surprised that, at this late point, the planning team at Lancashire County Council has raised objections about background noise for both sites.

'We believe, supported by independent experts Arup, that we have come forward with measures that would mitigate the noise of drilling and fracturing and the proposed noise levels are within the limits set out in government guidance.'

The company said it had supplied extra information regarding traffic routes for the Roseacre Wood site, and believed it had addressed all the issues raised.

'In the end the councillors on the development control committee will have to weigh the relatively minor impacts which affect only a small number of households and for which we have proposed adequate proposals for mitigation against the wider local and national economic and energy security benefits.

'We will await the councillors' decisions on both these applications and we believe that all of the limited issues that have been raised can be resolved.'

The Government is pushing for the development of a shale gas industry in the UK, claiming it would create jobs and growth, reduce energy prices and cut the country's reliance on gas imports.

However, opponents have raised fears that the process causes earthquakes, can pollute water supplies, and could lead to inappropriate development in the countryside and damage house prices.

Hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - involves pumping water, chemicals and sand at high pressure underground to fracture shale rock and release the gas trapped in it.

Hundreds of protesters attended a six-day Reclaim The Power camp last August near the proposed Little Plumpton site to campaign against shale gas extraction in the region by fracking.

Local authorities in West Sussex have also turned down applications from shale companies to explore for oil and gas in their areas.

The Roseacre Wood site should be refused planning permission because of the traffic issue and noise pollution, the planning officers said.

They recommended refusing the Preston New Road site on the noise issue alone.

The report into the planning applications said shale gas exploration was in principle 'acceptable', and that the impacts on air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, landscape, water resources and seismic movements at the sites were low or could be lessened.

But the proposed developments would lead to 'significant increase in night-time background noise levels'.

'Consequently it is likely that this would have significant adverse effects on the health and quality of life and lead to an unacceptable loss of residential amenity' to nearby residents, the report says of each site.

For the Roseacre Wood application, the planning officers also raised concerns that it was in a 'very rural location' served by small country lanes, and it should be turned down on those grounds too.

They said: 'An assessment concludes that the increase in traffic, particularly HGV movements, would be severe, there would be a material impact on existing road users, particularly vulnerable road users and overall highway safety of which the potential is considered severe.

Environmental campaigners Greenpeace hailed the recommendation to turn down the applications.

Greenpeace energy campaigner Simon Clydesdale said: 'Many thousands of people in Lancashire are seriously worried about the potential risks of fracking - traffic, noise, water contamination, air pollution, the value of their homes, to name just a few.

'The concerns about noise and traffic brought up by the planners are a reminder that fracking could be a lot of pain for very little or no gain for communities in Lancashire.

'The council now faces a clear choice: They can listen to the planners, and the Lancashire residents that elected them - almost two-thirds of whom want a moratorium on fracking - or they can kowtow to the corporate and political interests keen to force through fracking at almost any cost.

'The whole country is looking to Lancashire to protect its communities from the unnecessary risks that fracking plays with our futures.'

Lee Petts, spokesman for the North West Energy Task Force, a coalition of more than 500 businesses and academics, said: 'Natural gas from North West shale could be a massive opportunity for growth, investment, jobs and revenues in our region.

'Today's announcements are obviously disappointing, but we await the decision of the development control committee next week, and call on councillors to grasp this opportunity to create the jobs and investment that Lancashire badly needs.'

Friends Of The Earth's North West campaigner Helen Rimmer said: 'We are delighted that the planning officers have recognised the serious effects that these developments would have on neighbouring residents and have recommended that Lancashire County Council refuses these applications.

'Councillors must now act on this and the tens of thousands of objections they have received and reject Cuadrilla's fracking applications next week.

'Only by doing so will they ensure that fracking is not allowed to cause further climate change while also putting communities and the local environment at risk.'

Philip Mace, Partner at Clyde and Company's Oil and Gas Team said the decision in Lancashire could have long term implications to the viability of the industry.

He said: 'This could be a potentially disastrous decision for the future of shale oil and gas development in the UK.

'With oil and gas prices having fallen dramatically, the E&P industry is unlikely to have the appetite or backing to face the long and expensive approval process that is being required to carry out fracking in the UK.

'One remaining glimmer of hope is the proposed underground access rights for shale oil and gas extraction included in the Infrastructure Bill, which is still going through Parliament. But even that is not a given.

'Despite the Government’s desire to make change happen, there are only 100-odd days to the election and the fracking related elements of the Infrastructure Bill have been fiercely debated and may well not make the statute books in the remaining time available.'

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: 'This is a matter for the local planning authority to determine.

'The Government cannot comment on a live planning application. The Government continues to support the development of the shale industry in the UK.'

A spokesman for United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG), who represent the industry said: 'It is disappointing that officials at Lancashire County Council have come to this recommendation.

'We need to review the detail of their advice before commenting further, but on first instance it appears that these are local planning matters specific to these sites rather than any issues that would have an obvious impact on other shale gas applications.'