Fracking has been suspended at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site after a tremor last night.

A spokesman said the quake was “the equivalent to a bag of shopping being dropped” as the firm halted operations for 18 hours.

However it is understood the tremor was the biggest to have taken place at the site and comes just a week after operations were resumed following a series of seismic events.

The Cuadrilla spokesman confirmed that micro seismicity had been detected at 8.46pm on Wednesday August 21, by the highly sophisticated monitoring system in place at the shale gas exploration site near Blackpool.

Read more: Fracking to start near Preston as legal battle fails

He added:  “We can confirm that a micro seismic event measuring 1.55ML (local magnitude) on the Richter scale occurred after we had completed the hydraulic fracturing programme for the day at our Preston New Road site. 

“Most local people will not have felt it due to its small size. 

“The equivalent ground motion would be similar to a large bag of shopping dropping to the floor.  Well integrity has been verified and we will now pause operations and continue monitoring for the next 18 hours.

“The Preston New Road exploration site is the most regulated and monitored site in Europe and the systems in place are working as they should. 

“Minor movements of this level are to be expected and are way below anything that can cause harm or damage to anyone or their property. 

“All the relevant regulators were informed and we have verified that the well integrity is intact.”