Mining district 'still blighted'

Fifteen years after the closure of its last coal mine, the District of Easington in County Durham is still only, 'maybe half way' to recovering from the loss, according to the local council.

Video: Cllr Alan Napier - mining area 'still blighted'

In 2008, the Audit Commission released a report identifying the area as, "perhaps the area worst affected by pit closures in the country".

In April 2009, Easington Council will cease to exist, handing over the job of regenerating the area to a new Unitary Authority covering the whole county.

Dawdon Colliery closed 27 July 1991

Between 1981 and 1993, the district lost 11,000 mining jobs and 9,000 jobs in associated trades.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, unemployment was between 35% and 40%.

Deprivation

Ex-miner, Cllr Frank Shaw says people simply were not prepared for the breakdown of the area's social fabric.

"We had vandalism, we had arson, we had car fires and that was something that was relatively unknown at that time," he recalls.

In 2000, the index of deprivation listed the 20 areas in the country with the poorest health.

Eleven of them were in Easington.

Brighter future?

BBC Tees - The Miners' Strike, 25 years on.

But in recent years, the jobless figure has begun to fall and health indicators are slowly improving.

The area has seen some development and planning permission has been given for a £300m film studio and education complex, with the promise of up to 2,400 jobs.

As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since the start of the miners' strike, which marked the beginning of the end for British Coal Mining, Easington Council accepts that the recovery process has been slow.

Deputy leader Robin Todd, also an ex-miner, says any criticism of the council over the time taken to bring in new investment, is unjustified.

"You can't recover form a calamity in five minutes, when you've virtually been wiped out as a district," he insists.

"Your lifeblood's been taken away. You can't recover from that.

"It takes several blood transfusions and perhaps we're half way there, but there's still a long way to go."