COUNCILLORS have renewed objections to an opencast scheme which they say would blight hill top villages.

Wear Valley district councillors opposed UK Coal's application to dig at Park Wall North, near Tow Law, when they discussed it for the second time this year.

Their views will be passed to planning authority Durham County Council, who are due to consider the plan next year.

People living near Park Wall have already come out against the proposed site, despite the offer of "sweeteners" by the company, which is the country's biggest coal producer.

UK Coal has said it would pay to bring mains gas to Sunniside and set up a £120,000 community fund for other villages if their application was successful.

They want to extract 1.27 tonnes of coal and up to 500,000 tonnes of brick-making fireclay from the 126 hectare site.

Councillor Charlie Kay, the district council's deputy leader, said: "Hasn't Tow Law had enough of opencast? Haven't people up there suffered enough?

"If coal is that badly needed, why don't we open up the mines again?"

Coun Joe Buckham said: "It would be ridiculous to blight this end of Durham when closing collieries in the east has blighted that end."

Coun Barbara Laurie said: "We have had enough of opencast. Despite the fact that they say that they always put the land back as it was, they don't.

"We are trying to attract hi-tech businesses and home working and nobody is going to want to set up that sort of business if there is dust flying around in the air."

UK Coal spokesman Stuart Oliver said: "We are disappointed by the council's decision.

"Coal still generates 35 per cent of Britain's electricity. There is a very buoyant demand. Unfortunately, because of the constraints on production from surface mining, two thirds of coal is imported.

"It is a tragedy that a national resource of this kind is not being utilised.