Mps will vote today on whether to allow fracking under national parks.

Under the proposals, shale exploration would only be allowed 1,200 metres below those parks while drilling would take place from outside protected areas.

It follows a suggestion from the industry-funded Shale Gas Task Force which stated the UK should start fracking “as soon as possible” to find out the economic impact of shale gas.

Shadow Energy Secretary Lisa Nandy said ministers are “using a Parliamentary backdoor” to approve the “weak regulations” without debate.

She added: “Fracking should not go ahead in Britain until stronger safeguards are in place to protect drinking water sources and sensitive parts of our countryside like National Parks.”

In a statement, Greenpeace Energy Campaigner Hannah Martin said the government is “trying to pull a fast one through an arcane parliamentary process” in a move which would see the UK’s protected areas “fracked in all but name.”