UK Coal digs its way to profit

Britain's biggest coal miner, UK Coal, yesterday said it extracted 7.5 million tonnes of coal last year which will see it return to profit after three years of huge losses.

The group hit its production target despite virtually no output from its Daw Mill colliery in Warwickshire during December.

At its other mines, Kellingley in North Yorkshire produced more coal than expected and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire mined in line with targets.

UK Coal's recovery plan has seen it sell £65m worth of property and cut its debt 43 per cent to £139m by the end of last year.