A walk-out by 2,000 UDM members at RJB six pits had been due to start on Monday.

The union had accused RJB of offering a pay increase below inflation for the next five years.

A strike at RJB mining would have been a first since the bitter disputes of the 1980s

But at the last moment the UDM's National Executive Committee and RJB managed to come up with a compromise.

The new offer will give workers a one-off rise of 3.1%, guaranteed annual increases of 2%, with extra cash if inflation rises above 3%, and increased overtime payments.

RJB Mining also agreed to drop plans for a "no strike" condition on redundancy packages, one of the main sticking points in discussions.

UDM President Neil Greatrex said: "We are pleased to have reached a compromise.

"We have improved on the original offer in what we recognise are very difficult times for the coal industry."

"I always believe when we get to the stage of strikes somebody has failed. This time I don't believe it was us, but it's still a trauma to put people through."

'Sensible compromise'

Richard Budge, RJB Chief Executive, called the deal "sensible compromise" that would "remove the uncertainty over pay increases until 2003".

The UDM was formed during the bitter strike of the mid-1980s by workers opposed to the walkout by the National Union of Mineworkers.