The Government of UK has refused to allow an open cast coal mine being developed in northeastern England to go ahead.

UK Housing, Communities and Local Government minister Robert Jenrick said the proposal was not environmentally acceptable.

In 2016, Northumberland County Council agreed that mine developer The Banks Group could extract around three million tonnes (Mt) of coal by cutting an open cast mine near Druridge Bay in Highthorn.

According to Reuters, former minister Sajid Javid rejected the application of the coal mine development in 2018 following public consultation.

However, this decision was later challenged in the high court and returned for “further consideration”.

In a recent document, the government said that the proposed development is not likely to provide any local, national, or community benefits.

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In a statement, Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Tony Bosworth said: “With the world staring at catastrophic climate change, this is the right decision.”

Banks Group’s Mining executive director Gavin Styles said that the decision by the government was extremely disappointed.

He added: “At a time when our region and country is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, this decision effectively hands the much-needed and valued jobs of our North East workforce to Russian miners”.

According to government data, Britain’s coal demand was around eight million tonnes last year, while indigenous production was around 2.2Mt.

Earlier this month, the Coal Authority, a UK public body sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, enlisted new contractors as part of its four-year framework to design and build mine water treatment schemes across Britain.