Six people were arrested at a fracking site in Greater Manchester yesterday after protesters reacted with fury to David Cameron's pledge to allow councils to receive full business rates from the controversial drilling practice.

The Prime Minister's announcement sparked outrage in Barton Moss in Salford where protesters handcuffed themselves to lorries entering the plant before three men and three women were arrested for obstruction.

It followed a 500-strong march at the site on Sunday to protest against fracking.

The site is being operated by IGas Energy, which is drilling 10,000 feet into the earth in the hope of finding gas. Barton Moss is regularly targeted for protests, and Sunday's demonstration was the largest to date.

In November anti-fracking campaigners also established the permanent "Barton Moss Community Protection Camp" at the site. Protests have disrupted operations at the site, with campaigners blockading the entrance.

Frack Free Greater Manchester's Carmen Peruga said: "People from all walks of life attended Barton Moss on Sunday.

"The message is clear - the government has made people very angry by offering 60 per cent of the UK to fracking companies. You speak to people who live in the areas that are newly available and they're furious.

"It's as clear as day, there is no social licence for these proposed developments and people are willing to do whatever is necessary to stop them happening."

In another development French energy giant Total yesterday confirmed it is to invest in the controversial fracking process in Britain.

The company has taken a 40 per cent share in two gas exploration licences for drilling in the Gainsborough Trough, in an area between Doncaster and Lincoln. The shale gas extraction process has been linked to minor earthquakes.

The government is supporting firms involved in fracking because Britain is desperate to secure new indigenous energy supplies.

Hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal reserves were abandoned through the Tories' destruction of Britain's coal mining industry.

Britain is now heavily dependent on imported coal and gas to meet energy needs.