RESIDENTS are planning to erect a memorial to the miners who died in one of the region's worst pit disasters.

Stanley Hall Community Partnership is asking Derwentside District Council for planning permission to erect a stone cairn on the shaft head of the West Stanley Burns Pit, where 168 miners were killed in an explosion on February 16, 1909. If the bid is successful, the group aims to open the monument officially on the anniversary of the disaster next year.

Partnership member Derek Robson said: "This is an important part of Stanley Hall's heritage and is right outside our homes."

In October this year, the partnership and children from East Stanley Primary School planted hundreds of crocus bulbs on the site. The crocus was chosen as it flowers in February, providing a memorial on every anniversary of the tragedy.

Mr Robson said the pupils would also be invited to get involved with the cairn. The partnership already has £300 for the project, donated by ward county councillor Les Vaux, and is in talks with environmental group Groundwork West Durham to secure more funding.

Derwentside District Council leader Alex Watson said: "Two memorials exist to the mining disaster in Stanley, but it is fitting that there should be one on the pit head, provided it is done in the right way."

The accident happened when a build-up of gas in the mine ignited in a massive fireball. Flames shot into the air and 168 men and boys were burned, choked and crushed to death. The explosion was so fierce that windows were blown out in nearby streets. It shook the region's mining community. On the day of the funerals, about 200,000 people visited the small town.

An Advertiser and Northern Echo appeal raised £2,500 for a graveside tribute to 54 men and boys buried in unmarked trenches in St Andrew's Church.