Protesters meet at the inquiry which is expected to last for 12 days

Around two dozen people turned up on Tuesday to make their feelings known about the Ffos y Fran site.

The developers, Miller Argent, say extracting 10 million tonnes of coal will create jobs and clear up a derelict site.

But protesters maintain that it could affect their health and homes.

It was actually identified as an area of reclamation that was required because of the derelict land out there Stephen Tillman, Miller Argent

"The concerns of the people are simply that this scheme - such a massive scheme - is virtually on top of our town, a town of 25,000 people," said Leon Stanfield, former councillor.

"Within a mile of the site itself, we have a town centre, between there and the site we have one of the most populous areas of the town," he said.

Mr Stanfield said there is a new school near the 317-hectare site.

"There is very widespread concern from the parents of that school and people living near that site," he added.

'Misconceptions'

But Miller Argent hope to demonstrate the viability of the scheme at the inquiry at the Bessemer Hotel in Dowlais.

The application for the site, which is east of the A4060 and includes land south of Bogey Road, is the final phase of the East Merthyr Land Reclamation Scheme.

Developers say their operations at the site, which will last 17 years, will lead to 200 jobs directly and a further 400 jobs indirectly.

Miller Argent director Stephen Tillman

Miller Argent said they had already received job enquiries from local people, and claimed the scheme would benefit the area by at least �130m.

The inquiry followed the planning application made by Miller Argent for the reclamation of land which also includes extracting coal by opencast methods.

The application passed on to the Welsh Assembly Government in 2003, which will make a decision following the public inquiry.

Stephen Tillman, one of the directors at Miller Argent, will give evidence to the planning inspector over the next few days.

He said that at the moment the area was derelict and sometimes littered with burned-out cars and bike scramblers.

He said: "The council want this to go ahead, this has been conceived since 1988, since it had planning consent.

"It was actually identified as an area of reclamation that was required because of the derelict land out there, 317 hectares, way back in 1973 - so it's not a new project it's something that has been coming along."

Mr Tillman said people had misconceptions about the project, and while he admitted there would be an impact on the community, ecology, and archaeology, there would also be benefits.

The 317 hectare site is derelict

These benefits would include the removal of landfill sites and Miller Argent would pay back a WDA loan agreed years ago to fund the idea.

He said the company had set up a �6m fund to benefit the community, and if the price of coal went up, the value of the fund would also rise.

Merthyr Council has set up a room for members of the public to see all information relating to the application at their Keir Hardie offices.