Battle: Concerned over pit closure

John Battle tells the BBC's The World Tonight he wants to find out the facts Dur: 2'57"

Minister Calls for Report on Super-Pit Closure

Mr Battle stepped into the pits issue after confirmation that Asfordby mine in Leicestershire is to close because of "adverse geological conditions".

The pit's private owners, RJB Mining, said most of the 490 coal workers would be offered transfers to other RJB mines in the Midlands and South Yorkshire, but acknowledged that a small number of redundancies was likely.

Mr Battle said he wanted the mine owners to brief him in detail on the reasons for the shutdown.

"There's some controversy over whether geology is actually defeating this pit or not. I have asked the company to let me know their view in detail," he said.

He insisted he was not content to just accept the company's decision. "We ought to certainly challenge it and not simply accept it," he said.

Mr Battle stressed his eagerness that the Asfordby closure should not spell the death-knell for the entire coal industry, suggesting that the Government would fight hard to stem unfair competition from the importation of cheaper, subsidised coal from the Continent.

"I am convinced from my regular meetings with people from the industry that coal in Britain has a viable future, and will strain every sinew to see that its workers' efforts to make Britain's pits the most efficient in Europe pay off," he said.

"We have challenged the European Commission to sort out the effects of unfair competition from imports of state-aided coal from European pits. I am pressing the Commission to take action immediately," added Mr Battle.

Although calling for a report on the Asfordby shutdown, Mr Battle stressed that if closure was justified on geology and safety grounds, there was little the Government could do.

"If this pit is not safe, then it would be insane to carry on. No-one would want people to carry on working in unsafe conditions," he said.