By Siobhan Robbins, in Balcombe, West Sussex
The boss of energy company Cuadrilla has told Sky News the company plans to start drilling in West Sussex within the next day or so, as protesters vow to fight on to stop the site from opening.
The drill site in Balcombe has been the scene of anti-fracking protests for the past week, with demonstrators facing off against Cuadrilla over the controversial hydraulic fracturing technique.
Protester Natalie Hynde, the daughter of the Kinks' Ray Davies and the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, today glued her hands to a fellow demonstrator in an attempt to stop a gate at the site being opened.
Police later unstuck the pair and both protesters were arrested.
Protesters at the scene of the protest in West Sussex So far the latest protests have been peaceful following a number of arrests earlier in the week.
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan told Sky News the company has "no intention of ruining the countryside" and insisted there were only plans for exploratory drilling for oil, not for fracking.
"We would expect to start drilling within the next day or so. It is an oil exploration well - we're not actually going to fracture the well. We've been very clear about that," Mr Egan said.
"If we wanted to do that in the future we'd come back and go through a separate environmental impact assessment and planning application process, which is typically a nine to 12 month process.
Police and protesters gather at the site in Balcombe "So there will be no fracturing at the site as part of the current operation."
Many of the demonstrators at the site live outside the area and have created a makeshift camp at the side of the road.
Protest spokeswoman Katy Dunne told Sky News: "We will stay here until we win this war and anywhere the unconventional gas and oil industry goes will face this resistance because there is no social licence for destroying people's health.
"Ninety per cent of Balcombe say they do not want this industry here."
Banners and signs have been put up by the side of the road Fracking involves high pressure liquid being pumped deep underground to split shale rock and release gas supplies.
Mr Egan said the majority of people in the UK were "open-minded" about the importance of sourcing oil and gas resources for the future.
He said: "I'm not naive enough to think everybody who's camped outside is going to change their opinion overnight. But I do believe that the majority of people in the UK are open-minded about this.
"They do realise that we are in need of oil and gas, and that's nothing against renewables, but we will need oil and gas for decades to come.
"And it's a big question of do we carry on importing it at great cost, or develop our own resources at great benefit?"
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