BOTH South Cumbrian MPs have voiced their opposition to fracking coming to the area. 

On Wednesday evening Labour brought a vote on whether MPs should get a say on the Government's fracking plans. Labour wanted to put down a bill banning shale gas extraction, which is the controversial method of forcing water down a pipe into the ground and has caused small earth tremors. 

Either on the record or off the record, many Conservative MPs agreed or sympathised with this. However, it was turned into a confidence vote on Wednesday, where if Conservative MPs did not vote against the bill they would be kicked out of the parliamentary party.

This then turned into chaos on Wednesday evening during the vote as Conservative whips were unclear in communicating if this was or was not a confidence vote. Simon Fell voted against the motion, in an apparent u-turn from his previous voting record of being opposed to fracking. 

READ MORE: MPs push tidal barrage across Morecambe Bay over fracking

He received criticism of this on Twitter from Cumbria County councillor Sol Wielkopolski who asked him 'what changed your mind?' Mr Fell replied: "I didn't. I voted against what was a confidence motion in the Government and then for an amendment saying that fracking should ONLY ever take place when a community consents to it. My opposition hasn't shifted a jot."

When asked what he would like the new Government to do about fracking, Mr Fell said: "I would like the Government to drop it altogether. It won't help our short-term energy needs, it hasn't proven any safer than when we put in the moratorium, and our time is better spent on growing our renewable sectors. 

"Locally, there is huge potential for more wind, hydrogen, tidal and nuclear. That is good for our energy supplies, great for local jobs and our economy too."

The Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale Tim Farron said: "Cumbria is a place where shale gas is present and it could be fracked. It's dangerous because it makes the ground geologically active." 

Mr Farron has long been opposed to fracking and both he and Mr Fell have advocated building a tidal barrage across Morecambe Bay as an alternative.