PLANS to build a 1,000-job potash mine have received support from a senior food industry figure.

Professor Tim Benton has backed Sirius Minerals’ proposals for a mine underneath the North York Moors, near Whitby.

The £1.5 billion development, known as the York Potash Project, aims to create more than 1,000 permanent jobs by extracting up to 13 million tons of the fertiliser polyhalite every year for use on crops.

Redcar and Cleveland Council planning officials have already approved the mine and underground transport system and associated handling site, though the North York Moors National Park Authority still needs to give its backing.

Prof Benton, who leads the UK’s Global Food Security programme, said Sirius’ plans would be hugely beneficial. He said: “Growth of the global population, coupled with the increase in per capita demand, means total demand is growing.

“The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that 60 per cent more food per year will be demanded by 2050 from the Earth — the Earth is being asked to produce more food than it has to date in human history.”

Redcar and Cleveland Council last month approved Sirius’ plans for its mine and tunnel, and last week gave a mineral handling plant, set for Wilton, near Redcar, its backing.

A decision from the Planning Inspectorate on a further application for a harbour on the mouth of the River Tees to distribute the polyhalite is expected next summer.