asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many times he has overruled the advice of an inspector of the Department of the Environment in respect of opencast coal production; and in relation to the site at Oughterside in Cumbria what is the tonnage of coal likely to be extracted, its type and period of working.

The answers are twice; 1·95 million tons; mainly good quality general steam coal but with a proportion of coking coal; and seven and a half years overall, although since working will progress across the site no particular part of it is likely to be in work for more than two and a half years.