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

But the 40 early shift workers at Ellington Colliery, Northumberland - the North East's last deep coal mine - headed for home after bosses said: "We don't need you.

The workers, who were supposed to be at home drawing a full salary on "gardening leave" turned up for work as normal at 8am yesterday and telephoned UK Coal bosses to demand the right to continue work.

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

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

Mr Lavery 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 and well qualified men who are willing to clear the coal face free of charge. All they are saying is that 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."

But by 10am UK Coal told the miners they would not be allowed to pump clear the pit face and that they should go home.

Mr Lavery said: "They have told the lads to go home, that they aren't wanted.

We will have to weigh up the situation and see what develops."

Stuart Oliver, spokesman for UK Coal, said: "We are organising an orderly withdrawal from Ellington but not all 340 people could be deployed today.

"We have deployed 220 in total and there are 120 men on gardening leave.

"Some of those men turned up today saying they wanted to help pumping operations.

"But there is little point in pumping the face dry because we cannot resume mining at Ellington because of the risk of a further in-rush of water.

"There are 100 million gallons of water in old workings above and around the current workings, we cannot place our employees in that kind of danger."