DRILLING for oil and gas in the North York Moors National Park could be under way by the end of the year.

A Lincolnshire-based company has already carried out exploratory drilling at Boggle Hole, near Robin Hood's Bay, without striking lucky.

Now the firm has applied to renew the permission it holds to carry out exploratory drilling at two other sites, one on the moors near Grosmont and the other near Egton, on the A170.

They say they could start operations at the Grosmont site, at Fair Head Quarry, by the end of the year.

Candecca Resources Ltd, based near Lincoln, said its seismic surveys had identified rock strata which could yield oil or gas, but the only way to find out was by sinking a borehole. This would require a 36 to 40 metre tall drilling rig being assembled at the site, and the whole operation would last about six weeks, with drilling going on 24 hours a day. The company would then have to restore the site to its original state.

Phil Mason, of Candecca Resources, said: "It's very early days, and because it's in the National Park, there'd be a lot of implications as to what we did with a find."

National Park chief planning officer Val Dilcock said: "This will be a very short-term operation and in view of this, any effects on the character of the National Park will be temporary."

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