UK Coal has been ordered to pay GBP 1.2 million in fines and costs after four miners died at two of its collieries.

The company had admitted breaching health and safety laws during a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court and said it regretted the loss of life.

Mr Anthony Garrigan, 42, Mr Paul Hunt 45 and Mr Trevor Steeples 46, died in accidents at Daw Mill colliery, Warwickshire, in 2006 and 2007.

Mr Paul Milner died after an accident at the since-closed Welbeck Colliery in Nottinghamshire, in 2007.

Doncaster based UK Coal was fined GBP 112,500 in relation to each incident and ordered to pay a further GBP 187,500 in costs in each case, prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.

Mr Justice MacDuff said he would not impose a higher penalty because of the financial difficulties of the loss making company.

UK Coal, which operates three of the last five deep coal pits in the UK, could face further prosecution over the death of Gerry Gibson in September at its Kellingley colliery in Yorkshire. It has also recently been charged over the death of Ian Cameron on October 18th 2009.

It said that “We accept the decision of the court and ... we are currently reviewing all aspects of safety throughout our operations. We are unable to comment further at this stage, but intend to announce our findings as soon as is practical following the completion of the review. The safety of our workforce remains our number one priority and we remain committed to working with our employees and trade unions to further improve our safety performance.”

(Sourced from Financial Times)