FRACKING could be on its way to Peeblessire, if permission is granted to carry out the controversial operations after the area was identified as a location with significant gas supplies.

The UK government, which has backed fracking as a safe method of extracting natural gas, pinpointed hotspots across Scotland - those areas, including Peebles, are now under consideration for lincences and would then be opened up for bids.

Some of the biggest global oil and gas companies are expected to bid in the multi-million pound opportunity. But fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, has attracted fierce opposition nationwide because of concers that it could cause earthquakes, damage buildings and increase pollution to dangerous levels.

The process involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into shale formations, which are located deep underground, fracturing the rock which then releases the gas.

A licence would not automatically allow a company to carry out fracking, but it would allow initial gas and oil exploration.

Before any onshore drilling is to be done, the firm would need permission from the local authority or the Scottish Government.

In an open letter pubished on their website, The UK Onshore Operations Group has vowed to ‘work with local communities’ throughout the process.

The letter stated: “As an industry, we are well aware of the current debate surrounding shale and onshore gas extraction.

“The UK has benefited from having an onshore oil and gas industry for over a century. Over 2,000 wells have been drilled – many of them hydraulically fractured – and over 300 are currently operational.

“We welcome an open and honest dialogue with local communities and the wider public.” On Wednesdsay a spokesman from the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change confirmed that an area encompassing Edinburgh and the Borders, among others, is on offer for licencing - but that nobody has permission for fracking yet.