THE fate of the last deep coalmine in the North-East is hanging in the balance following flooding that has halted production for the past fortnight.
Findings of an engineers' report into the problem at Ellington Colliery, Northumberland, will be revealed by owner UK Coal today.
The jobs of 325 mineworkers and other employees at the site, near Ashington, rest on the outcome.
Water started flooding the only production face on Tuesday, January 11, rapidly rising by more than 1,000 gallons a minute.
Although the flooding has been partially reduced, pumping has been hampered by power cuts.
Stuart Oliver, of UK Coal, was unwilling to pre-empt today's announcement on the future of the pit. He said workers would be addressed before any decision was announced.
Ian Lavery, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers, went down the mine yesterday to see the problems.
He fears the company will announce the closure of the pit.
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