THE £165m mine for west Cumbria will make a “significant contribution” to the flagship plan to rejuvenate the northern economy, it has been claimed.

Henri Murison, Director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, made the comments after the controversial scheme was given the go ahead this week.

West Cumbria Mining wants to extract coking coal off the coast of St Bees, with a processing plant on the former Marchon site at Kells.

The long-awaited undersea coal mine is expected to create more than 500 jobs in the mine itself give a much-needed boost to West Cumbria following the collapse of the Moorside nuclear investment deal.

It could generate double that number of jobs in the supply chain and up to 146 jobs in the construction phase.

Mr Murison said: “The businesses of West Cumbria, and the whole Northern Powerhouse, have been great supporters of this project.

“I would like to pay tribute to Mark Kirkbride (chief executive of the mine) and his team as well as Copeland Borough Council, who have been steadfast in their perseverance in securing this scheme. It will generate significant employment and help to improve the prosperity of local communities.

“This project will mean progress is needed to improve freight links on the rail line to Carlisle to allow export from the Tees to steel producers in Europe and the UK.

“As Northern Powerhouse Partnership we are full supporters of this scheme and the wider Northern transport priority to better connect the energy coast.

“Companies like Sellafield support their own SME supply chain to grow and diversify, proving they can move past the disappointment of the government last year allowing the Moorside project to fail.

“This project, and other opportunities such as nuclear decommissioning, demonstrate that West Cumbria will make a significant contribution to the Northern Powerhouse, alongside the nearby regions Borderlands and South Cumbria and Lancaster.

“All three of these as distinct functional economies have significant areas of excellence and strength to be further developed. We now need to see how further devolution, as the Borderlands growth deal has begun doing, can unlock the huge potential of Cumbria.”