The council gave IGas permission late last year to carry out exploration work at Springs Road in order to test whether the shale rock present is suitable for fracking.

"At this stage we, as well as other onshore operators around the country, are trying to establish if the significant quantities of gas that we have identified exist in the right formations to be commercially prospective," Chief Executive Stephen Bowler said.

"Results from these (two) wells will help us better understand the shale gas potential in North Nottinghamshire," he said.

Britain is estimated to have enough trapped shale gas to meet its gas needs for decades. However, the use of fracking is opposed by environmental campaigners.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by Jason Neely)