PROFIT-HUNGRY fracking firm Ineos has been accused of trying to undermine democracy after forcing a judicial review of Scotland’s decision to ban the controversial energy-extraction process.

Campaign group Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoE) said today that the energy firm’s campaign to overturn the ban “reeks of desperation from an industry that is failing to get results anywhere in Scotland, the UK or elsewhere in Europe.”

In October last year the Scottish government imposed an indefinite moratorium on drilling for shale gas and oil within its national boundaries. A similar ban is in place in Wales.