PLANS have been unveiled to protect drinking water and beaches from the threat posed by rising water levels in disused mines.

Across the country, water tables that were lowered when mine shafts were sunk are now returning to their natural levels.

However, the water is full of iron oxide, which could pollute the sea and drinking water supplies.

Now the Coal Authority has drawn up plans to tackle the threat, which is particularly urgent in east Durham.

A temporary treatment plant at the former Horden Colliery, near Peterlee, County Durham, should be in operation by the middle of next year.

It will pump and treat water from the old mineshaft to avoid any contamination of seawater.

The authority presented the proposals to residents at an open day in Horden yesterday.

In the longer term, the group plans to build a pumping station at Dawdon, east Durham, to draw minewater from a large area of the east Durham coalfield.

Councillor Bob Pendlebury, Durham County Council's cabinet member for environment, said the proposals would be assessed to make sure that the environment and landscape were protected.

It is hoped the solutions will protect the Durham Heritage coast, which was once known for its coal-blackened beaches, polluted with waste, but has since been transformed.