MINERS have worked underground for the final time after Kellingley Colliery closed to its remaining 450 workers.

Men at the North Yorkshire mine - affectionately known as the "Big K" - hung up their hard hats on Friday and clocked off for the final time, bringing to an end deep coal mining in Britain.

The site was once hailed as the new generation of coal mining and could bring up to 900 tonnes an hour to the surface.

It employed more than 1,600 workers at its peak, but its closure marks the end of 50 years of mining at Kellingley, and means Yorkshire has lost 56 collieries in just over 30 years.

Chris Kitchen, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, said: "It's a sad time at the pit because it is men losing their job in an industry that shouldn't be closing.

"The lads have done everything that has been asked of them and they have fought to try and retain the pit, but it is a sad indictment when we have a Government that doesn't see the point in investing.

"There is a sense of bitterness here because we are still going to be burning coal. There would have been a bit more of an acceptance if this had shut down with the last power station."

Mr Kitchen says staff from the Job Centre Plus have met with miners over the last two months to prepare them for a life working above ground, but he is unsure how their unique skills will transfer to other lines of work.

"There is one thing getting the training but it doesn't mean there's going to be a job at the end of it," he added.

"These are highly skilled individuals but the skills are only applicable to mining."