Church of England speaks up for fracking trials Vivienne Westwood, the fashion designer, joins protesters at the anti-fracking camp in Balcombe, The Church of England has set itself on a collision course with opponents of hydraulic fracturing - fracking - by signalling support for exploration of Britain's shale gas reserves. Philip Fletcher, who chairs the Church's group on mission and public affairs, compared condemnation of fracking to the mistaken belief that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was not safe. "The evidence for that was totally unsound, yet the damage caused by denying children the benefits of immunisation was huge," he told the Financial Times. Similarly, to deny ourselves proper testing and piloting [of shale reserves] is to shut off an option without considering it ­properly. Mr Fletcher said "blanket opposition" to shale gas ignored potential benefits such as energy self-sufficiency, job creation and alleviating fuel poverty. He added that while all fossil fuels contributed to global warming, gas was much less damaging than coal. Mr Fletcher made the intervention as Cuadrilla, the oil and gas exploration company, suspended drilling for shale reserves in the West Sussex village of Balcombe after hundreds of anti-shale activists threatening "mass civil disobedience" converged on the site for six days of protests. The stand-off in Balcombe reflects an intensifying public debate on the pros and cons of fracking, the contentious shale-extraction technique that supporters claim could unlock vast new reserves of gas in the UK. Fracking, which involves injecting water, sand and chemicals under pressure into dense shale rock to release the oil and gas trapped inside, is opposed by environmentalists, who claim it can ­pollute groundwater and cause earthquakes. David Cameron, the prime minister, has strongly promoted the exploitation of Britain's shale gas reserves, saying it would bring down energy bills, create jobs and benefit communities. The Treasury has offered generous tax breaks to encourage the industry. Mr Fletcher stressed that the Church of England had no official policy either for or against fracking. But there was a danger of viewing it "through a single- issue lens and ignoring the wider considerations." In a statement he said the Church did "not want cowboys and cavaliers digging up the land in a free-for-all exploitation." But he cited a recent review by the Royal Academy of Engineering that said fracking "can be managed effectively in the UK" as long as operational best practices are implem­ented and robustly enforced through regulation. The remarks are at odds with a leaflet issued by the diocese of Blackburn this week warning that fracking in Lancashire risks harming "God's glorious creation." Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, spent more than a decade working in the oil industry before joining the Church. It was not clear if the statement reflected his personal views.