End of Cornish tin

End of Cornish tin

The fate of Cornwall's 4,000-year-old tin mining industry was sealed yesterday when the Government refused to back a pounds 12m rescue package for the county's last pit - South Crofty. The 300-year-old tin mine - also the last in Europe - will close on 6 March following an announcement that the Government would not contribute pounds 5.8m.

Around 200 miners to be thrown out of work at the complex near Redruth now face finding jobs in one of Britain's worst unemployment blackspots.