LONDON, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- England's famous city of Bath attracts millions of visitors from around the world, mostly enticed by natural hot-spring baths first developed almost 2,000 years ago by Roman conquerors.
Attractions such as the ancient Roman Baths and Thermae Spa help generate the 400 million pounds (647 million U.S. dollars) earned every year for Bath's tourism industry.
But the city's top tourist attractions could be threatened if underground fracking for gas is allowed beneath the city.
That is the fear of the leader of the city council in Bath, Councilor Paul Crossley. He says the city's delicate water supply to the hot springs could be damaged by underground drilling in the fracking process.
So strongly does the politician feel about the risks to Bath's tourism economy, he traveled this week to London to address a summit meeting called to discuss issues surrounding what is one of the British government's favored resources for home-produced fuel.
So far no commercial fracking takes place in Britain, though test drilling is taking place in some areas.
The leader of Bath told the Shale Gas Environmental Summit, which opened on Monday in London, that the granting of a fracking license for Bath could be disastrous for the city.
Bath, one of UNESCO's World Heritage Cities, is home to Britain's only natural hot springs. Sitting in a valley along the River Avon, the city became a spa in AD60 when the Romans first built baths there, attracted by the hot springs, said to have curative qualities.
It was though during England's Georgian era in the 1800s that Bath became a popular destination.
Around four million tourists are attracted to Bath every year. The Roman Baths alone are worth 92 million pounds a year to the city, and the Thermae Spa generated an extra 14 million pounds.
Tourists, fear the council leader, would be deterred if fracking is allowed. He said there was proof of the risk to the springs, citing independent research by the British Geological Survey which concluded fracking could damage the underground water supply.
While Bath's city council is not opposed to shale gas extraction in principle, it is very concerned about any possible damage to the springs and losses to the local economy, Crossley added.
"For technical reasons it is wholly inappropriate to issue licenses within the Bath Hot Springs catchments area," he said.
The Shale Gas Environmental Summit, a platform for interested bodies to discuss the impact of fracking on the environment, will conclude on Tuesday.
