A CONSULTATION on the use of fracking in Scotland has attracted around 60,000 responses, the First Minister has confirmed.

The public consultation on the controversial gas extraction technique closed at the end of May.

Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish Government is committed to making a decision on whether or not to ban fracking by the end of this year.

A moratorium on the practice has been in place since January 2015.

Raising the issue at First Minister’s Questions, Greens co-convenor Patrick Harvie said a number of studies have raised further concerns about the health impacts of the technique, including cancer risks and lung damage.

He said: “We simply can’t go on with a temporary moratorium, leaving threatened communities in limbo.

“The scale of the public response on this issue is unprecedented, and it’s clear that only a full, permanent ban will do. Greens have led the way in calling for a ban, and we will accept nothing less.”

Sturgeon said responses to the consultation were in the region of 60,000, including a “considerable number” via postcard and petition campaigns.

She said: “It is important that we now properly analyse those consultation responses and use that as the factor that we will take into account when reaching a final decision.

“The reason we have taken this very cautious and precautionary approach is exactly because of those concerns that Patrick Harvie outlined.

“There are many people with a range of different concerns about fracking from environmental to health to transport.

“None of those concerns ever could or should be brushed aside, so that’s why we are taking this approach.”

The First Minister was then pressed by Harvie on the impact of Brexit on environmental controls and protections.

And he asked: “Can we have a clear and absolute guarantee that not one of those regulations will be downgraded, watered down or weakened in Scotland?”

Sturgeon responded: “Even our harshest critic would suggest that the concern about the watering down of environmental regulations post-Brexit is not one that people should have about this government, although it is certainly a concern that people should have about the current UK government.

“We take environmental protection and regulation very seriously. Indeed, one of my many concerns about the Brexit process is the fact that there will be a fragmentation of environmental protection through the process of the UK leaving the European Union.”

She added: “I have previously described myself — and I would continue to describe myself — as somebody who is personally very sceptical about fracking for many of the reasons that Patrick Harvie has outlined. What we said in our manifesto on the subject absolutely stands, and that is the standard by which we will assess the issue.

“We have embarked on a process of consultation that follows the process of the expert research work that we did into a range of issues. It is vital that we conclude that process with all due process and in good faith. We will do that in the timescale that we set out, and we will come to a final decision within that timescale.

“As I said in my first answer, people in Scotland can be assured that, pending the outcome of the process, there will be no fracking in Scotland. That is why the moratorium is so important.”

After FMQs, Harvie added: “The commitment from the First Minister that a decision will be made and a vote brought in Parliament before the end of this year is good to hear, and Greens will hold the First Minister to that commitment. By banning fracking and focusing on long term jobs in low-carbon industries, Scotland can send a strong message that our future is green.”