SIX surface mines owned by UK Coal – including one in this region – are up for sale, the company has confirmed.

Last week UK Coal Production announced the signing of a £4m commercial loan agreement with the Government to allow the managed closure of two deep mines, Kellingley, in North Yorkshire, and Thoresby, in Nottinghamshire.

But as part of the deal struck, its subsidiary UK Coal Surface Mines is selling six opencast sites, including Park Wall North, between Crook and Wolsingham, County Durham.

That has brought criticism from campaign groups who say local communities were not informed and they have been “left in limbo” about the future of the sites should they be sold

Steve Leary, a spokesman for the Loose Anti Opencast Network, a coalition of 30 local community groups opposed to opencast mine proposals, said: “When UK Coal come to an area to publicise their plans they use language such as having a ‘partnership’ with local communities.

“However…local communities have, as far as I know, not been informed that [these] sites are up for sale.

“Nor have any assurances been given about the future of the sites should they be sold.

“We have been left in limbo and we would be happier knowing who is likely to want to by [these] sites and be secure in the knowledge that [they will] honour all planning conditions, especially those concerning site restoration.”

More than 1.2m of tonnes of coal has been mined from Park Wall North over the past four years.

However UK Coal has now moved into a restoration phase at the site, involving the removal of heavy plant machinery and returning it to its previous environmental state.

Up to 15 staff are currently working on the project, which is likely to take about a month to complete, weather permitting.

Alison Reid, a spokeswoman for UK Coal Production Ltd, said: “[We] are in continued discussions with a number of interested parties for the sale of the surface mines.”

UK Coal is also proposing an opencast site near Leadgate, County Durham, which is subject to a second public inquiry beginning next month.

The firm is the largest producer of coal in the UK, but it has faced significant financial difficulties having suffered from the volatility of the global market and falling coal prices.