A BREAKTHROUGH could come within days in the fight to save 700 mining jobs near Selby through a restructure of UK Coal, Parliament has been told.

The House of Commons heard the Government was working “flat out” to help save Kellingley Colliery, after Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, spoke about the fears for its future last week.

UK Coal, which runs three of Britain’s last remaining deep pits, has lost more than £250 million in coal and equipment following a fire which broke out in Daw Mill pit in Warwickshire in February and is still burning.

The pit has remained closed since then, with 650 miners out of work, and UK Coal announced it had made a £6.2 million loss after tax in its 2012 results and has a pension deficit of about £450 million.

Mr Adams questioned Michael Fallon, the Energy Minister, on what was being done to ensure the mine remained open and the 700 jobs remained safe.

Mr Fallon said: “We have been working flat out to help the company to restructure since the fire at Daw Mill. That has involved intensive work with a number of other Government bodies. I understand how frustrating it is for him and, in particular, for those who work in the colliery not to have had an announcement yet, but I am hopeful that we will see progress in the next few days.”

Mr Adams, who has family members who have worked at Kellingley, said: “I have been in regular contact with Ministers and UK Coal on the crisis facing Kellingley, and I am grateful to the Government for its continued work to ensure the viability of the Big K and hopeful that the Minister’s comments may mean that a deal can be done.”