Chairman of the Environment Agency Lord Chris Smith has given his backing to expansion in the UK of fracking - the controversial process to extract natural gas from shale rock using massive amounts of water.

In an interview with the BBC this morning, Lord Smith said the energy from fracking would provide a useful addition to meeting the UK's energy needs, provided it could be drawn out of the ground effectively and safely. 

He emphasised that the Environment Agency would want to monitor and regulate the fracking process very rigorously. This would include making sure that no contaminated water caused by the process could enter groundwater sources for water supplies.

Lord Smith said the expectation was that fracking would be able to be carried out safely and could provide a useful addition to the UK's energy mix. He also lent his support to nuclear power, commenting:

"Climate change has made a realist of many of us and nuclear has to be part of the mix."