Councillors in Preston, Lancashire, voted against the return of fracking this week.
County council planning officers had recommended they allow gas firm Cuadrilla to frack a site near the village of Little Plumpton.
It would have been the first fracking operation in Britain since 2011 when a Cuadrilla rig near Blackpool —also in Lancashire— was found to be causing earthquakes.
The decision is a setback for the Tories’ plan to roll out the dangerous method of shale gas extraction around Britain.
It’s also a victory for the protesters who rallied outside Lancashire County Hall on Monday of this week and Tuesday of last week.