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The Tories today swiped at Andy Burnham for being 'too chicken' to sign off on new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

Claire Coutinho, the party's energy spokesman, hit out at the Prime Minister over claims he has pushed a decision on the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects into the autumn.

Mr Burnham is reportedly delaying making an announcement on the two fields because of 'concerns' about approving new drilling during a summer of heatwaves and wildfires.

Rosebank is the UK's largest remaining untapped oil field and lies about 80 miles west of Shetland.

Meanwhile there have been warnings of fuel shortages this winter without the approval of the Jackdaw gas field, which is 150 miles east of Aberdeen.

Proposals for the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields are now in the hands of ministers following the closure of consultations on the two projects.

Asked about the claims Mr Burnham is delaying a decision until later in the year, Ms Coutinho said the PM was 'worse' than Ed Miliband, who imposed a ban on new drilling in the North Sea during his time as energy secretary.

'I actually think this is worse than the Ed Miliband position because Andy Burnham knows that it's right to sign off those two fields,' the Conservative frontbencher told reporters. 'He's just too chicken to do it.'

Tory energy spokesman Claire Coutinho hit out at Andy Burnham over claims he has pushed a decision on the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects into the autumn

The Prime Minister is reportedly delaying making an announcement on the two fields because of 'concerns' about approving new drilling during a summer of heatwaves and wildfires

Ms Coutinho, who is seven months pregnant, added: 'The truth is, the gas that you get from the North Sea has far fewer emissions than the gas that you import from overseas. So it's actually better for climate for us to use our own.'

She also welcomed a surprise U-turn from Labour's eco-millionaire donor Dale Vince, who this week revealed he has dropped his opposition to the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.

Mr Vince, who has donated more than £6million to Labour through his Ecotricity firm in recent years and who previously gave cash to the Just Stop Oil group, once said it would be a 'betrayal of millions of us' to approve the two sites.

But, outlining his reversal, Mr Vince on Monday said that if new North Sea drilling was combined with 'price control' on wholesale energy then this can 'save money for the country'.

Asked if she agreed with Mr Vince's demand for energy price controls, Ms Coutinho said: 'Where I do surprisingly, for once, agree with Dale, as I think this week he said we should sign off Jackdaw and Rosebank, which is an extraordinary turnaround for someone who used to fund Just Stop Oil.

'And I think what that means you're seeing is people are starting to turn towards energy realism.

'A lot of the people who threw rocks at us for saying this for years... are finally coming round to the reality that it's better for jobs, it's better for the economy, and it's better for the environment because it has far fewer emissions than the dirtier gas that we would import from abroad.'

Ms Coutinho answered questions following a speech in which she called for the Government to prioritise cheap energy over decarbonising Britain's power grid as part of its Net Zero agenda.

The Tories have commissioned think-tank Onward and advisory firm Transira Energy to compare the costs of a Net Zero electricity grid with one which prioritises cheap power through a mix of gas, more nuclear and fewer renewables.

The analysis by Onward suggested focusing on cheap power could save families £540 a year from their energy bills.

Labour's ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences – which was promised in the party's general election manifesto – was imposed by Mr Miliband when he was energy secretary.

But Mr Burnham, who promoted Mr Miliband to Foreign Secretary when he became PM, has said he will be 'pragmatic' about the future of drilling in the North Sea.

He could claim not to be breaking Labour's manifesto pledge by approving Rosebank and Jackdaw, where licences were previously granted by the Tory government, while still not issuing any new licences.

Initial approval of both sites was given by the Conservative administration but was later withdrawn when a court ruled consent was granted unlawfully following a case brought by environmental campaigners.

This forced the owners to seek fresh permission to extract oil and gas from the fields, with a final decision set to fall to Mr Burnham and new Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.