COAL production at Britain's oldest mine ended yesterday.

Mining operations at the Prince of Wales colliery in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, have been gradually phased out over the past eight months and yesterday some of the 450 miners who used to work at the pit marked the closure with a small ceremony.

The closure of the 142-year-old pit was announced at the beginning of the year when coal bosses said further investment could not be justified.

The most optimistic forecast showed losses of £36m over the next two years, rising to £164m under different options.

Some mineworkers have been offered alternative jobs at other collieries or redundancy payments of up to £27,000.

At the time of the announcement Alec Galloway, UK Coal's deep mines managing director said: "Prince of Wales has made a major contribution to meeting Britain's energy needs.

"The problem has not been investment - it's all about geology. There can rarely have been such an in-depth review of options in an effort to maintain mining operations. Regrettably, none of them stack up financially."

The pit, one of 14 operated by UK Coal, produced coal mainly for power stations.