SITTING on top of a tanker for several hours is one way to spend a midweek morning.

And no doubt opinion will be divided over whether the anti-fracking protestors who held up Kirby Misperton’s Main Street for more than four hours are noble eco-warriors or troublesome types making life difficult for other people.

But no matter which side of the fracking fence one sits - whether you feel it is progress towards fuelling the nation or a backwards step into an environmental apocalypse - it is the right of people who don’t agree with the industry to protest peacefully about it.

There have been many arrests of protestors at Kirby Misperton since preparatory work started at the Third Energy fracking site last September.

Most, if not all, have been for minor infringements and many campaigners have been let off with nothing more than a metaphorical slap on the wrist from the authorities.

When, or if, the fracking operation starts in earnest in Kirby Misperton, time will surely tell whether the officials who gave it the green light should have paid more heed to the protestors.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the county in the Yorkshire Dales, people are being given the chance to get stuck in to a bit of eco-warrior-ism and sign up to volunteer in the National Park.

It is the first time in three years that the park authority is actively recruiting and the importance of their work cannot be underestimated.

From fixing paths to recording flora and fauna species, volunteers can make a real positive difference to the future of this most wonderful of landscapes, and that is action everyone can support.