COUNCIL engineers have reassured people living in the Crook area that work to allow gases in former mine workings to vent into the atmosphere does not pose a danger to health or safety.

Durham County Council engineers confirmed that the Coal Authority was sinking boreholes in the area to allow the gases to escape in a controlled way. But local people have been told there is no cause for alarm because the work is purely a long-term safety precaution and not because of any imminent risk.

David Wilkinson, head of the council's geo-technical engineering unit, said the work had been made necessary following the Coal Authority's decision to allow mine water to rise under controlled conditions.

He said: "All old mineworkings contain gases and it is important that they are allowed to escape harmlessly into the atmosphere in a controlled way.

"Pathways for the gases are usually provided by mine entries such as shafts and passageways connected to the mineworkings, but rising mine water may have affected some of the pathways which the gases take.''

The work comes after the Coal Authority carried out a risk assessment in the area west of the River Wear, which recommended that additional gas vents should be provided in the Crook area.

This area, in particular, has been identified because there are lower coal seams close to the surface, giving the potential for gases to concentrate as minewaters rise.

Six boreholes are being sunk to provide vents at Jobs Hill, Roddymoor, Woodifield, North Bitchburn, Abbots Close and Bracken Hill.

Each will be capped with a manhole for monitoring purposes, which the Coal Authority will be monitoring regularly.

Councillor Bob Pendlebury, county councillor for Crook South and the council's lead cabinet member for environmental matters, said he was satisfied with the work.

He said: "These boreholes don't pose any risk to public safety.