Planning permission for new projects will only be given where the development is environmentally acceptable or has significant benefits for local communities.

Paddy Tipping: End of open-cast mines

Labour MP Paddy Tipping, of the MPs Against Open Casting group, said the rules spelt the death knell for open-cast mines on 'green field' sites by the end of this century.

Jobs will be lost because of the expected rundown of the industry, but Mr Tipping said more could be created at deep mines where production may be increased to fill the gap.

BBC Industry Correspondent Stephen Evans: "General expectation is that the change will be made"

Britain produced about 30.3m tonnes of coal in 1997, of which 16.7m came from open-cast mines.

Open-cast mines employ 4,500 people in Britain compared with 12,500 in deep mining.

Fellow Labour MP Nick Palmer (Broxtowe), who has campaigned against open-casting in his Nottinghamshire constituency, said: "This clampdown is a great relief.

"It will strengthen our hand in saving some of the best countryside in Nottinghamshire from new schemes."

'Financial benefits'

RJB Mining Plc is Britain's biggest coal producer, with output of 13m tonnes in the first half of 1998 including 3m tonnes produced by open-cast mines.

Chief executive Richard Budge said: "Planning permission has never been easy to obtain and we don't expect it to get any easier.

"We have to convince local communities of the financial benefits."

Friends of the Earth welcomed the proposals, but warned there may be more pressure for open-cast mines in Scotland and Wales as a result.

The Scottish and Welsh Offices are also considering similar proposals.

Coal facts

• Open-cast mining using diggers, earth-movers and explosives provides a growing proportion of the coal used in Britain. Most of it is used in coal-burning power stations

• Open-cast mines were first authorised just after World War II as an emergency supply

• Coal from open-cast mines usually costs less to extract than that from deep mines. Open-cast mining is also considered less dangerous

• But coal from open-cast mining is often low in sulphur and, for this reason, is frequently mixed with coal from deep mines, a process known as "sweetening"