RESIDENTS are to be consulted over proposals for a pipeline which would transport potash from a new mine in North Yorkshire.

The site at Sneaton, near Whitby, is believed to be the largest mineral deposit of high-grade polyhalite – a material used to create potash – in the world, with at least 1.35 billion tonnes beneath the North York Moors.

York Potash, the company behind the £1.5 billion mine scheme, wants to ferry the ore through a buried pipeline to a processing facility on Teesside.

Consultation sessions will run from November 27 until December 1 and be held in Lingdale, Whitby, Saltburn, Sleights and Kirkleatham. Opponents are concerned the pipeline would pass through about 25km of the North York Moors and should not be allowed.