A LEGAL challenge against the Government’s decision to approve a controversial new coal mine in West Cumbria will be heard in October, the High Court has said.

Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC) will put forward separate challenges at the hearing, which is due to take place between October 24-26.

The High Court denied climate campaigners a legal challenge last month but the groups appealed the decision and their cases will now be heard at what’s known as a ‘rolled up’ hearing.

West Cumbria Mining, the company behind the new coal mine, has previously said that a challenge will not delay the project as the planning permission remains ‘live’ and fully in force throughout any challenge against the Government decision.

The company said it was “very strongly of the view” that there are no grounds for any challenge to succeed and “it intends to proactively proceed with all of the preparatory works”.

Friends of the Earth lawyer, Niall Toru, said: “We have a strong case against the decision to grant planning permission for this coal mine and look forward to setting it out before the court in October.

"The Secretary of State made a number of significant climate-related errors in allowing this mine to proceed which we believe makes his decision unlawful."

Carole Wood, Chair of SLACC, said: “I am very glad that the court has decided to set aside three days in October for this hearing. 

"Michael Gove's rationale for approving a new UK coal mine, that would extract and export coal until 2050, was seriously flawed, and involves issues of national and international importance that must be examined.”

Mike Starkie, former mayor of Copeland and an ardent supporter of the mine, said: "It won't delay anything. Work will start on that site late summer. These opponents are going to exhaust every angle that they can. They will keep getting costs awarded against them.

"They keep leading people down the garden path and are continuing to waste money. They'd be better off focusing their attention where they could make a real difference - starting in China or Russia - where the real impacts are. 

"They are fighting agaisnt a democratically made process both locally and nationally. On every stage of this journey, the correct decision has been arrived at, that the mine should go ahead."

The new Woodhouse Colliery in Whitehaven will extract metallurgical coal from beneath the Irish Sea for the production of steel.