AN injunction obtained against anti-fracking protesters will still be enforced after attempts to have it struck off stalled.

The temporary injunction, which was obtained in July, forbids any campaigner from harassing INEOS staff and suppliers in any way, or interfering with their lawful activities.

At a three-day hearing in the High Court last week, two campaigners tried to have the ‘anti-democratic and oppressive’ injunction struck out.

The judge adjourned the hearing, effectively meaning injunctions will continue, for now.

INEOS maintain that the injunction is only in place to protect staff from ‘hardcore activists’ and insists that it does not prevent peaceful protest.

Following the adjournment, Tom Pickering, operations director of INEOS Shale, said: “Our people have the right to go to work free from threats of intimidation, injury or harm.

“These injunctions simply protect INEOS, our people and the public from hardcore activists.

"They do not restrict the rights of people to lawfully, peacefully protest.”

INEOS was awarded three fracking licences in Cheshire in December 2015, with one of them covering Northwich and the surrounding area.

Frack Free Northwich, a community group set up to oppose fracking in Northwich and the surrounding areas, said the injunction is 'unworkable'.

A spokesman for the group said: “It is the opinion of Frack Free Northwich that the injunction sought by INEOS is both unnecessarily wide ranging and infringes on the right to free speech.

“The current wording of the injunction is so broad that it is essentially unworkable.

"As Kevin Blowe of police monitoring group Netpol has said, this has created a ‘chilling effect’, intimidating people to become too fearful to exercise their rights.

“Whilst this adjournment will leave the injunction in place for now, it is the hope of Frack Free Northwich that this injunction will eventually be lifted.

“This injunction aims to prevent any kind of peaceful protest or objection against the interests of INEOS worldwide.

"It is clear that no single company should have the right to be above public scrutiny.”