Miners at a stricken North-East colliery staged a sit-in protest yesterday to demand the right to pump clear their flooded pit.

Workers on enforced leave from the region's last deep pit demanded the right to return to work yesterday.

About 40 pitmen protested at Ellington Colliery, in Northumberland. The demonstration lasted about an hour.

Accompanied by NUM president Ian Lavery, they argued that it would take only three days to pump clear the flooded pit face - not the 50 days suggested by owner UK Coal.

The pit, the last in what was once the world's biggest coalfield, is now doomed to close.

The colliery was closed last week after millions of gallons of sea water poured into the mine, flooding its only working coal face.

UK Coal said it was not safe or viable to resume mining and its 340-strong workforce would be made redundant.

About 220 miners are still on site, helping to pump out the water.

But UK Coal has sent home the remaining 120 miners on gardening leave, with full pay.

Stuart Oliver, of UK Coal, said: "We cannot actively employ all of those people when the productive surface is underwater."

Ellington was the region's last working deep pit and the last in the UK where coal was mined from under the sea bed.

Mr Lavery has repeatedly accused UK Coal of taking the easy option when the mine could be made productive again.

He said: "We think it can be cleared in three days. UK Coal disagree, so we will take them on at their challenge.

"These are experienced, well-qualified men who are willing to clear the coal face free of charge. All they are saying is they want to work.

"We demand the right to prove the company wrong and we demand the right to prove the company is deliberately lying and taking the opportunity to close the colliery based on a lie."

Mr Oliver said: "We have the best workforce out of our eight pits at Ellington and our most lucrative contract is at Ellington, which has two years left to run.

"The men were mining underneath waterlogged workings and adjacent to waterlogged workings.

"We can pump the water out, but there is no way of knowing if more will flood in. As a responsible, safety-conscious company, that is a risk we cannot take."