Campaigners are hailing the end of opencast coal mining in Britain after a long battle to see off the final applications for new mines in former coal heartlands.
The Banks Group’s decision not to appeal against the rejection of a proposed scheme on the outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne means England now joins Scotland in apparently reaching the end of the road for surface coal mining.
No opencast mines are extracting coal in either country – compared with the nine operating in England alone a decade ago producing nearly 3m tonnes – while two remaining sites will gradually wind up operations in Wales.