Fracking firm will drill 3,000ft well in Sussex in first test for gas in the Home Counties Cuadrilla plans to drill well near village of Balcombe in West Sussex It is firm behind the only exploratory dig to date near Blackpool Test drilling for shale gas will take place in the Home Counties for the first time this summer. Cuadrilla, the firm behind the only exploratory dig to date near Blackpool, plans to drill a 3,000 feet deep well near the village of Balcombe in West Sussex. In 2011, the company was forced to suspend activities in Lancashire after fracking - blasting underground rock to release trapped pockets of shale gas - was suspected of causing two small earthquakes. The Cuadrilla shale fracking facility in Preston, Lancashire, last year In the face of strong local opposition, it has given an 'unequivocal assurance' it will not use fracking at the exploratory well. But it could be extended horizontally underground by 2,500ft and is intended to discover how much recoverable gas is below the Sussex countryside. 'Although this summer's work will be unobtrusive, we're fully aware that local people will have many questions about our plans and we'll do our best to answer all of them,' said Francis Egan, Cuadrilla's chief executive. During the coming months, we will discuss our plans with residents and they will be able to visit the site to see for themselves what our work involves. Cuadrilla, which won planning permission for the work in 2010, promised to hold extensive technical, environmental and public consultations if oil or gas are found. It would have to apply for a new licence - and win over suspicious locals - if it intends to frack the site in the future. The technique is a way to retrieve gas trapped in underground rock by injecting high-pressure water and chemicals, but so far has only been widely successful in the U.S. In the next few weeks, an official report by the British Geological Survey is set to be released and expected to announce Britain's shale gas deposits are far larger than previously predicted. Controversial: Demonstrators hold placards in protest against hydraulic fracturing for shale gas outside the Houses of Parliament in London Industry experts estimate we could be sitting on enough gas reserves to supply the nation for more than a century, fuelling hopes the UKs energy landscape can be transformed like the U.S., where drilling has driven down prices. David Cameron wants to see Britain at the heart of the 'shale gas revolution', and the chancellor has pledged to offer lucrative tax breaks and a simplified regulatory regime to the industry in a bid to promote investment. Fracking was temporarily halted at Britain's only test drill site in 2011, after two small tremors woke some residents in Blackpool. But operations were allowed to resume in December after Energy Secretary Ed Davey announced greater restrictions aimed at limiting the likelihood of tremors. Critics say any shale gas energy boom will scar the countryside, pollute water supplies and could line the pockets of foreign firms rather than boosting the British economy.