The ground beneath Kingston is unlikely to be “fracked” for oil and gas, Energy Secretary and Kingston and Surbiton MP Edward Davey has said.

Parts of New Malden and Worcester Park sit inside an area where a US company could carry out fossil fuel explorations.

Alamo Energy has held a licence since 2010 to explore potential fuel sources in and around the Weald basin, according to Greenpeace.

The licence allows exploration of shale fuel reserves – which could be extracted by the fracking process.

Fracking involves using high-pressure water to fracture layers of shale rock deep underground where oil and gas lie trapped.

One of the four blocks of land covered by the licence extends into the borough of Kingston, though there is not thought to be shale fuel in the area.

But Alamo, which is operating with another company, Northdown Energy, would need council planning permission to start exploratory drilling, plus approval from the Environment Agency and the Department of Energy.

Mr Davey said: “The licences reported by Greenpeace are existing licences for oil and gas exploration.

“As for the licensed block that covers a large area touching Kingston, the exploratory work has been elsewhere near Orpington and is focused on conventional oil and gas, not shale.

“No consent has been granted for hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas anywhere in the UK.”