NORTH-EAST mining jobs are under threat after the Government confirmed plans to close all polluting coal-fired power stations by 2025.

Renewable energy businesses and environmental campaigners welcomed the move which will make the UK the first major country to end use of the fossil fuel.

But concerns have been raised that the Government plans to switch to gas rather than cleaner technology. Energy Minister Amber Rudd insisted it will be "imperative" to build new gas-fired power stations in the next 10 years as it turns the emphasis on to new gas and nuclear power plants to cut emissions and ensure energy security.

It comes after a series of announcements cutting support for renewables, which ministers claimed were necessary to prevent rising costs to consumers who pay for subsidies on their energy bills.

Green MP Caroline Lucas said: "This switch from coal to gas is like trying to go dry by switching from vodka to super-strength cider - it entirely fails to seriously address the real challenge at hand.

"In the run-up to the crucial Paris climate talks in December ministers are showing their true colours. Support for nuclear and gas is growing, while help for renewable energy firms, and the thousands of jobs they create, is being slashed.

"Investing in renewables and energy conservation would be far more effective economically, environmentally and in terms of energy security. We must begin weaning ourselves off gas as quickly as possible."

The phasing out of coal will add to mounting pressure on County Durham’s surviving coal miners - Hargreaves Services and Banks - who will continue to scale back production as domestic demand falls.

Ms Rudd said all coal power plants which do not have technology to capture their carbon emissions will close over the next decade.

Barney Pilgrim, project director at The Banks Group, warned it would lead to higher electricity bills and have a tiny impact on global coal emissions.

Mr Pilgrim said: “In the same month that the National Grid had to issue a request for more output to be generated by the UK power industry, and with many major industrial energy consumers on standby to stop production in order to ensure domestic supply needs can be met, it seems strange for the UK Government to be placing unnecessary and arbitrary limits on the use of a proven, cost-effective means of energy generation, and by doing so, just reduce the world's eight billion tonne coal burn by less than half a per cent."

(In contrast China continues to burn almost as much coal as the rest of the world put together).

Mr Pilgrim added: "This announcement will require new baseload generation to be built to fill the capacity gap, and until such time as this new low carbon investment is actually taking place, early closure of the lowest cost form of generation can only have an adverse impact by increasing consumer bills.

"Coal remains a central part of the UK's current energy mix, with around 30 per cent of the electricity that we all use to power our homes, businesses, schools and hospitals being produced through coal, but over 85 per cent of this coal coming from overseas.

"It makes far greater sense to support UK jobs, to deliver local environmental and conservation enhancements and to provide a secure domestic supply of energy by mining and using our own indigenous coal reserves through carefully-planned and sensitively operated schemes such as those we run, instead of relying on imports of coal and gas from potentially-unstable overseas markets.

"As a North East family-owned business, we remain proud that our regional mining operations contribute more than £35m to the North East economy every year through wages, investments and the local supply chain."

Esh Winning-based transport and fuel business Hargreaves, which employs about 2,000 people, was forced to make about 150 redundancies following the closure last month of the SSI Redcar steelworks.

Today’s announcement did not come as a shock to Hargreaves bosses who said plans were “well advanced to deal with the ongoing declining demand for power station feed coal”.

Hargreaves, which supplies about 10 per cent of the coal used to fire Britain’s power stations, will focus efforts on mining high value speciality coals, such as those used by chemicals and cement plans, as well as coal sold on garage forecourts, in DIY stores and supplied to Britain’s steam railways. The firm continues to develop its overseas interests and export North-East mining expertise to fast-growing economies such as India where there is still a voracious appetite for coal.