asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will state in million tons the amount of known coal reserves in Great Britain.

The National Coal Board estimates the reserves of economically workable coal accessible to currently working collieries at 4,000 millions tons. There may be a further 2,700 million tons occurring within or near the working coalfields, but this requires further geological proving, which is now being planned. Large additional coal deposits, certainly upwards of 10,000 million tons, are also known to be present both in the working and in virgin coalfields.