A shale gas company has said it won’t appeal after it was refused permission to explore for oil and gas at two sites in West Sussex.

Celtique Energie had put forward planning applications to drill wells at Fernhurst and Wisborough Green but were rejected by officials last year.

The company said the recent changes to the Infrastructure Act and new planning guidance related to national parks meant its work at Fernfurst was “no longer feasible”.

Earlier this year the government confirmed fracking would be banned in all national parks.

It added it would not pursue its appeal at Wisborough Green as it would not have enough time to drill there before the end of its licence in June 2016.

Environmental groups welcomed the news.

Friends of the Earth south east campaigner Brenda Pollack said: “This is a tremendous victory for common sense and yet another blow to the Coalition’s short-sighted fracking plans.

“Shale firms must take note of local people up and down the country who are rightly concerned about the impact of fracking on their communities and environment.”

Earlier this week, Swiss petrochemicals giant INEOS struck a deal to buy stakes in a number of shale gas licences across the UK.