A company has withdrawn its appeal over plans to begin exploratory drilling for oil in a Lincolnshire village.

Egdon Resources says it will now submit a new application for drilling at North Kelsey, 19 miles north east of Lincoln.

The company had challenged Lincolnshire County Council's decision to refuse consent for drilling at the site.

The new plan will be more environment-friendly and will commit to consulting the local community.

But campaigners accused the company of wasting time and resources and said a fresh application would mean more delay and uncertainty.

Egdon said its decision followed correspondence with the planning inspector ahead of a hearing which was due to begin on 14 June.

It said the inspector had considered the lateral borehole in the application to be a new development as it fell outside the boundary of the firm's original 2014 planning consent for the site.

Egdon managing director Mark Abbott said it was 'disappointing' to withdraw the appeal.

'We and our advisers unfortunately saw little option given that a lateral borehole is key to the exploratory drilling, and to ensure clarity and robustness in any decision made.'

Egdon said its new application would reflect any changes since the 2014 consent and include updates to the ecology of the site, traffic issues and flood risk.

Amanda Suddaby of SOS North Kelsey said: 'Their statement clearly acknowledges that their reports were out of date and therefore inadequate – an issue we have raised on numerous occasions, particularly relating to ecology.

'With the deteriorating state of nature in the UK, we need to pay more attention to the damage being inflicted upon our environment by unsustainable developments such as this.'

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