MULTI-MILLION-pound plans for a new state-of-the-art Cumbrian coalmine will be a massive employment boost for the region, resulting in major rail link improvements for Copeland.

That is the view of Millom Councillor Ged McGrath, who along with his fellow Conservative councillors have welcomed the news that Cumbria County Council has unanimously given the go-ahead to West Cumbria Mining Limited, which wants to extract coking coal along the coastline between Whitehaven and St Bees and process the fossil fuel at a nearby plant.

Copeland Conservative MP Trudy Harrison and international trade secretary Liam Fox have both given their backing to the project, saying the massive £165m investment in the new mine will result in major economic growth across the constituency.

Their words have been echoed by Cllr McGrath, who is also the Conservative candidate for Copeland in May’s mayoral elections.

He said: “I welcome the council’s planning department’s decision to back west Cumbria Mining.

"This will create more jobs in Copeland for local people, so that our local economy will benefit.

“Hopefully the proposals should also be a catalyst now for further improvements to our railways and if elected as mayor in May I will look forward to working with Trudy and the government to ensure this happens, so that we will all benefit.”

The company is expecting to extract and process around 2.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal a year to supply into the UK and European steel-

Commenting on the new coal mine, South Lakes MP Tim Farron said: “I am extremely disappointed and surprised by this decision.

“Cumbria has so many renewable resources to provide energy - water, wind and solar - and we should most definitely not be taking the backwards step of opening a new coal mine.

"I understand the economic challenges on the west coast that has put pressure on the county council to make this decision, but this does not make such an environmentally backward decision acceptable.”

The mine is due to be operational for 40 years.