The closure of the Bradley mine in the north of England marks a new step towards giving up coal in the UK, although this process could be delayed by several extraction projects for steelworks and cement plants, informs AFP.

The Bradley mine, located near Durham, ceased operations on Monday, shortly after the Shotton and Brenkley mines, owned by the same owner, Banks Group, which laments the “closure of the last coal mine in England” and says about 250 jobs are threatened.

The closure of the Bradley mine has been hailed by environmentalists after months of protests, especially from the NGO Extinction Rebellion, to prevent the mine from remaining in operation until 2021, as the Banks Group has unsuccessfully called on the British authorities.

The Banks Group points out that the Hartington mine, also in the north of England, continues to operate even though it is a smaller mine than the Banks Group’s and that there are a few other small underground mines in other parts of England. There are also several mines “in Wales and Scotland,” a Banks Group spokesman said.

Even so, this is the end of an era for a country where coal mining dates back to Roman times and where dozens of mines were still operational in the early 2000s.

But amid climate change, Britain has decided to put an end to coal mining for electricity production by 2025, and plants that still use the fuel can now be counted on the fingers of a hand, according to Agerpres.