Private firm to reopen pit

(First Edition)

PRIVATE contractors are to lease a Nottinghamshire colliery which was closed by British Coal last May with the loss of more than 500 jobs, writes Jonathan Foster.

It will be the first pit to reopen since the Government offered the private sector opportunities to work 31 mines earmarked for closure 14 months ago.

The Doncaster-based contractor R J Budge is believed to have agreed terms for the lease of Clipstone colliery, near Mansfield, for short-term extraction of coal suitable for coking. About 200 former Clipstone miners could be re-employed, working coalfaces which have been kept in workable condition since the pit was shut.