 Drive for cleaner air could stop these wheels turning |
The UK coal industry is under threat of more pit closures and thousands of job losses if the government goes ahead with plans to clean up the environment. Half of England's remaining deep mines could be shut down if initiatives aimed at cutting sulphur emissions at power stations go through.
The warning came from the country's biggest coal producer UK Coal.
The company said the cost of closing these mines would be �300m in redundancies and �450m to the economy.
Decision time
The Government is preparing to make a decision on whether to limit the amount of sulphur that coal-fired power stations are permitted to belch into the atmosphere.
The impact of a ruling to curb sulphur emissions would be severe, said UK Coal's chief executive Gordon McPhie, and would lead to the "unnecessary closure" of at least four mines.
Pits at risk would include the Harworth and Welbeck mines in north Nottinghamshire, and Rossington and Maltby in South Yorkshire.
If those pits shut down the jobs of 2,000 miners would be lost along with thousands of other workers, UK Coal warned.
The Government is expected to announce its decision by the end of June.
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