England will impose an immediate suspension of fracking, the government announced Saturday, stating that the practice risked causing disruption through earth tremors. 

Fracking, long opposed by environmentalists, extracts gas from underground rocks, breaking them up with high pressured water and chemicals. 

The practice was supported by Boris Johnson's Conservative government, as they sought alternatives to imported natural gas, which is used to heat around 80% of Britain's homes.

The announcement comes during Johnson's campaign for a December 12 election. 

"Exploratory work to determine whether shale could be a new domestic energy source in the UK ... has now been paused - unless and until further evidence is provided that it can be carried out safely here," the UK business and energy department said in a statement.

The government's decision will effectively lead to a UK-wide suspension. Fracking has been suspended in Scotland since 2013, in Wales since 2015 while Northern Ireland, there is a planning presumption against the practice. 

On twitter, the UK branch of Greenpeace hailed the decision, posting: "This is a massive victory for grassroots activists around the country who have been campaigning for years to get fracking banned. 

"Companies like Cuadrilla have been desperate to establish a fracking industry in the UK for yrs & they threw everything into it. 
 

"Turns out it was nowhere near enough to counter the resistance of ordinary people fighting to protect their water, their homes, the climate."

The announcement follows a report on an incident at a fracking site near Blackpool, August, when a 2.9-magnitude tremor shook nearby houses.

Anti-fracking campaigns by local activists have led hundreds of arrests over the last few years. 

Talking to Reuters, Maureen Mills, from Halsall Against Fracking, said "The toll this has taken on our lives is immeasurable. 

"The industry is all about itself and its shareholders. Our communities are left physically and mentally drained and devastated. For what?"

Fracking in England only resumed last year after two tremors prompted a seven-year suspension. Fracking is also suspended in Germany, France, the Netherlands, among other European countries.