Coal giant plans £800m land sale

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Britain's biggest coal producer has unveiled plans to sell thousands of acres of land for housing and commercial development.

UK Coal said it intended to dispose of a "substantial" acreage of land from its huge estate across the country.

The value of the land to be sold, once planning consent has been approved, will be £800m over the next six years.

The first major application will cover 100 acres of land in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, for housing and offices.

Property director John Lloyd said a number of approaches had already been made about the Pontefract site and there was a long list of potential developers.

The company said it aimed to develop 60 sites nationwide for the building of 14,000 homes as well as business parks.

Inherited land

Most of the land being sold is close to former pits and some will have to be cleaned up before being developed.

One of the biggest sites which will need some cleaning up is at a former mine and coke works near Sheffield in South Yorkshire.

The company owns 49,500 acres of land stretching mainly from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the East Midlands and, although most is not suitable for development, UK Coal said it expected to sell a substantial acreage.

The company inherited the land during the privatisation of coal industry in 1994, and most of it is so-called brownfield sites, close to urban centres.

UK Coal chief executive Gerry Spindler said most of the money generated from the portfolio would be used to develop new mines.

The Doncaster-based firm's finances have improved in recent years and it made a £7m profit in the first six months of 2006.

But reduced output at four deep cast mines over the summer will force it into the red for the year as a whole.