A campaigning battle over drilling for gas on the fringes of the Yorkshire Wolds is to step up in intensity as consultations begin.

Egdon Resources UK Limited has applied for a permit around a temporary wellsite at Foxholes in Driffield to explore for natural gas.

Now a consultation opens from the Environment Agency (EA), running until mid-January, seeking residents' views.

It comes just weeks after parish councillors set out a 56-page objection, pleading with planners at North Yorkshire Council (NYC) to refuse the scheme.

Now was the time to "draw a line in the chalk", they warned, referencing the geology of the Wolds and of the site itself in its importance to the area's water supply.

As a consultation opens for submissions Kathryn Richardson, area environment manager for the EA, said it will carry out a "detailed and rigorous assessment".

This is the first stage only, she said, with permit applications setting out any conditions the operator would have to meet to minimise any risk.

Further approval would still need to come from NYC.

"Our regulatory controls for the onshore oil and gas industry are in place to protect people and the environment," she stressed.

“I’d encourage people to read the consultation documents and attend the drop-in.

"We welcome comments from the public and interested groups on local environmental factors that people feel are important.”

The Weaverthorpe Wellsite would see a test borehole be drilled on land north of Butt Lane, planning documents detail, on agricultural land used to grow potatoes. It goes on to read that if natural gas is found, as predicted, then the goal would be a short-term well test. If no natural gas is found, the site would be restored.

The consultation opened on Tuesday and already a number of objections have been lodged.

One resident, stating they are "extremely concerned", feared any benefits from the scheme would outweigh the "significant and serious consequences" of it going ahead.

"There are other much more efficient and less intrusive means of producing energy," they said, adding: "The presence of a drilling site would be obtrusive, and deter tourism."

Previous warnings from the parish council, submitted with minute precision to decision makers at NYC, had also raised concerns over surface and groundwater risk. Members cited the position of the drilling site, above a chalk aquifer supplying the area's drinking water, and called for the bid to be refused outright.

Every single resident of Foxholes and Butterwick had been consulted face to face, councillors added, with some 90 per cent in opposition.

"Our community’s environment, health, and safety must not be compromised for short-term industrial gain," they warned. "It's time to ‘Draw a Line in the Chalk.’"

Consultations over the proposals will run until January 14.

This is the first stage, around permits, before any drilling or early testing can start and further permissions would be needed from North Yorkshire Council (NYC).

A public drop-in session is to be held at Foxholes Community Hall on December 2, from 4pm until 7pm, with residents encouraged to attend.