According to media reports, the ruling was made last week in favour of an association known as PALP, which was created to see the Algarve free of fossil fuels.

The ruling means that the GALP, ENI consortium, which is planning to start oil prospecting this autumn, will now have to down their drilling tools.

This comes after the Portuguese Environment Agency ruled that an environmental impact study was not necessary before drilling could go ahead off the Algarve coast.