Anti-fracking protesters slow-walk in front of a gravel truck delivering at the Preston New Road site where Energy firm Cuadrilla are setting up fracking (hydraulic fracturing) operations at Little Plumpton near Blackpool in northwest England on January 10, 2017. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid gave the green light for the drilling of up to four wells by energy group Cuadrilla at the Preston New Road site in 2016, overruling a local council's decision to prevent the controversial scheme which is also opposed by environmentalists. Opponents fear that fracking -- a way of extracting gas by blasting water, chemicals and sand underground -- could pollute water supplies, scar the countryside, and trigger earthquakes. / AFP PHOTO / Paul ELLIS
