Call for more coalfield cash

The research says more coalfield areas should receive funding

It is feared some of Durham's most deprived towns and villages are being denied access to hundreds of thousands of pounds of funding.

Former coal mining areas can apply for extra cash from Coalfield Regeneration Trust, but some are not classified as being eligible.

But new research from the University of Durham suggests towns such as Tow Law, Ebchester and Deerness in Durham City should be on this list.

The research has been sent to the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, whose office is looking into the issue.

And a committee of politicians, led by the Newcastle MP David Clelland, will look at what the government has done for places, like Tow Law, in the autumn.

Mining legacy

Professor Alan Townsend, who carried out the study, said: "The difference it makes is that they are fully eligible to apply for grants for social facilities.

"In a lot of the mining villages we have recognised, the use of the status would be to apply for repairs to their village halls.

"In south and west Durham there are areas that still depend on their legacy on mining, the effect of past employment on health, for instance."

The Coalfield Regeneration Trust hands out grants worth up to £200,000 for things like health schemes and community centres.

Deprived ward

But places like Tow Law are not officially recognised as a coalfield area in need of cash because their mines closed too long ago to meet the criteria.

The Coalfield Regeneration Trust said it was aware of Durham's research but had no plans to follow the guidance unless the government tells it to.

Jenny Flynn, chair of Tow Law Town Council, said: "We have known for a long time that we have been treated as category B under the rules of the regeneration trust.

"Our coalmines closed too far in the past for us to be treated as category A or one of the communities who get priority.

"We are recognised as one of the most deprived wards in the country but that cuts no ice with the Coalfield Regeneration Trust."