Hundreds of jobs at risk as UK Coal mines face closure

AROUND 700 Yorkshire jobs are at risk as the UK’s largest coal producer announced it was likely to shut two of the last three deep mines in Britain.

UK Coal is consulting on plans to shut Kellingley in Yorkshire, which employs 700 people, and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire, where 600 jobs could be affected.

Hatfield colliery in South Yorkshire would be left as Britain’s last remaining deep pit mine.

The company, which was rescued from administration last year, is understood to be looking to raise around £10m in investment, which it hoped to secure within the next few weeks.

Andrew Mackintosh, a UK Coal spokesman, said it needed the cash injection to prevent the mines being closed straight away.

“We are not looking at a long-term future here, but in order to close the mines slowly we need to have money,” he told BBC Radio Nottingham.

“If we secure funding it gives us time to work with suppliers and employees to ensure a smooth closure programme.

“Thoresby and Kellingley would have at least 18 months, rather than an immediate closure if we don’t get the funding.”

UK Coal provides 8% of the total coal consumed in the UK.

It said a strong pound meant it had lost out to cheaper imported coal, especially from the US, where the boom in shale gas has forced coal miners to find new markets in Europe.

UK Coal said it was in talks with stakeholders, including rival Hargreaves Services, the group which runs Monckton coking plant near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, about potential investments.

Hargreaves made a £20m bid for UK Coal last year when it was in administration following a fire at its Daw Mill colliery near Nuneaton before the Pension Protection Fund stepped in.

Hargreaves told the BBC it is not making a second bid to buy UK Coal, but that it “has extended offers of assistance to all the associated stakeholders to help try and find a solution to assist UK Coal”.

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