MSP Claire Baker has called for a full ban on onshore unconventional oil and gas extraction in Scotland, claiming that going ahead with such proposals could put at risk residents in Mid Scotland and Fife.

The Kelty woman has submitted a response to an open consultation on plans to ban fracking in Scotland.

Scottish Labour colleague, Claudia Beamish MSP, is planning to bring forward a Member’s Bill to ban fracking in Scotland after the Scottish Government failed to commit to doing so. Currently the Government has only introduced a moratorium, leading to fears that fracking could still play a part of a future Government’s energy plans.

Last year a motion was passed in the Scottish Parliament calling for such a ban after Labour MSPs voted it through, whilst the Scottish Government abstained.

The call follows Ms Baker’s successful campaign to have underground coal gasification (UCG) banned in Fife and across Scotland.

The Scottish Labour MSP first raised her concerns over the potential for Underground Coal Gasification in Fife in 2013, and has been repeatedly campaigning on the issue since.

Claire Baker was successful in forcing the Scottish Government to include UCG in a moratorium whilst it carried out research into its use. Following that research, the Scottish Government have confirmed that UCG “will have no place in Scotland’s energy mix.”

Commenting after making her submission, the Mid Scotland and Fife MSP: “The current moratorium is only a short term pause and it leaves the door open for fracking in the future. Yet evidence points to the fact that fracking can have a negative impact on our environment.

“This Bill is about the air we breathe, that water we drink and the communities we live in. It will change the law to ban fracking in Scotland, just as we promised in our election manifesto.

“The Scottish Government must listen to locals and community groups, the very people that will be impacted by the potential of drilling under their homes.

"Whilst I am delighted that my three-year campaign to have UCG banned has been successful, it does not end there. Mid Scotland and Fife cannot be considered a guinea-pig for fracking.

“The Scottish Government must get behind this bill and join us in banning fracking in Scotland once and for all.”