A PROJECT aimed at preserving a community's rich mining heritage was launched yesterday.

Boosted by a £26,000 National Lottery grant, the Seaham Mining Project, in east Durham, got under way with the symbolic lighting of a pitman's lamp.

Seaham's Parkside Infants School was chosen for the launch to inform youngsters of their roots and of the hardship and sacrifice that helped forge their community.

It was in 1992 that the coastal town lost its three pits -Seaham, Dawdon and Vane Tempest.

At the ceremony, a miner's lamp was lit and passed around invited guests, including Euro MP Stephen Hughes, civic dignitaries, representatives of the National Union of Miners and pupils from the school.

Project leader Dr Eddie Mason said there had been concern that young children in the town did not know about the rich history of the pits and the men who worked in them.

He said that the project had been devised to inform the town's younger generations so they could pass their knowledge on in the future.

The venture will be dedicated to educating youngsters about their ancestors, who created many recreational facilities in the town that were paid for by "miners' pennies''.

For the time being, a section of the school will be dedicated to a mining exhibition of memorabilia, but the aim is to set up a Mining Heritage Centre.