Furious residents across Cumbria are seeking legal advice after fears landowners will use ancient laws to exploit natural energy deposits under their homes.
Thousands of homeowners have received letters from the Land Registry informing them landowners are seeking to register mineral rights.
If the claims made under laws dating back to the Norman Conquest are successful, they may give contractors the right to frack for natural gas and oil.
The age-old laws give “Lords of the Manor” rights to extract anything of value from the earth on their estates.
Anti-fracking campaigners have mounted strong opposition against shale gas drilling near homes, claiming the process could contaminate water supplies and even trigger earthquakes.
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: “When I received the letter I was worried about the implications of it and I will be seeking legal advice. I would urge other residents to do the same”.
His warning comes just days after the Government announced Cumbria could be a rich bed for energy extracted by fracking.
A report last week for the Department of Energy and Climate Change suggested that up to 60% of UK land could be fracking hotspots.
But Mr Farron said the UK Government has seen “flashing pound signs” without considering the long-term threat of fracking under homes.
He said: “To drill for shale gas here would be staggeringly damaging and short-sighted, and we would all be left to live with the consequences.”
Earlier in the year, the Church of England came under fire for trying to assert ownership of 500,000 acres of land across the UK using the ancient laws.
Fears were raised it was for the Church to profit from fracking.
However, the Church insisted it had “no particular plans” to mine under any property and was “confined to registering what the Commissioners have owned for many years”.
If original land owners were granted rights to mineral access, they would have to gain planning permission to profit from shale gas reserves.
However, last week, Planning Minister Nick Boles scrapped “unnecessarily excessive” planning rules to cut red tape.
Campaigners claim the move could mean fracking happening around their homes without them being notified.
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