A CASH boost has meant that a memorial to the forgotten victims of one of the region's worst mining disasters can be commissioned.

The Northern Echo and Stanley Miners' Memorial Committee's campaign hope that the memorial will be unveiled early next year.

An explosion at the West Stanley Burns Pit, in Stanley, in February, 1909, killed 168 men and boys.

Of those, 54 lay buried side-by-side in mass burial trenches in the cemetery behind St Andrew's Church in Stanley. The graves were never marked.

Former pitman Bob Drake made extensive searches and made a chance find in the archives to unearth the true story.

A £500 donation by Durham county councillor Edna Hunter, from her budget for community causes, means that Scotts Memorials, of Consett, will almost certainly be commissioned to make the memorial.

Coun Hunter, also a member of the Stanley Miners' Memorial Committee, said: "This is a cause that has won a lot of support and there's no doubt that the disaster will always be remembered in Stanley."

The Northern Echo donated £3,000 which it raised from the campaign. Much of that money was given by relatives of the victims and more has come from other donations.

The cheque will be handed over to the committee. The campaign is still about £900 short of its overall target.

The memorial will bear the names of those buried in the mass trenches, and all those who died in the disaster.

Former coal miner Billy Johnstone, of Murton, is hoping that the last of his special commemorative plates he made for the campaign will be sold to give a massive financial boost to the fund.

Mr Johnstone, who has a stall selling coal mining memorabilia in Durham City indoor market, invested £1,430 of his own money by making 100 commemorative plates which bear the name of each of the 168 victims.

He has 17 left to sell at £20 each. If all are sold, that will add another £500 to the fund. They can also be bought in Stanley at the card stall in the town's indoor market.

If you would like to know more about the campaign, call reporter Chris Webber on (01642) 675678.