A decision on West Cumbria's proposed new coal mine has been delayed again. 

The Government has now set a deadline of November 8 to make a final decision on the controversial scheme, which would see coking coal extracted from beneath the Irish Sea off the coast of Whitehaven.

Greg Clark, who last month replaced Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, was due to make a decision next week.

But key stakeholders have received a letter from the Government this evening confirming a further delay.

The letter says: “This is a complex matter and officials are not yet in a position to complete their considerations prior to providing advice to Ministers.

“In these circumstances, given the imminent decision date, an additional period of time is required. Planning Ministers will therefore not be in a position to reach a decision on this application by the previously notified date.

“As a consequence, the Secretary of State has varied the timetable previously set and he will now issue his decision on or before November 8, 2022. We aim to issue the decision as quickly as possible.”

It is the third deadline that has been set for the decision to be made after a planning inquiry was held in September last year and a report was prepared by the planning inspector for the secretary of state to consider.

The original deadline of July 7 was pushed back to August 17 when Michael Gove was sensationally sacked by Boris Johnson on July 6 – before he had issued a decision. The Prime Minister then resigned the following day.

Mike Starkie, elected mayor of Copeland, said he was furious that there would be a further delay.

He said: "It is outrageous and totally unacceptable.

"The enquiry was in November 2021 and the planning inspector submitted his report to government in April, it was in my opinion stretching it with no decision  before July and should not have been extended to August.

"To now move the goalposts to November is appalling and there is no justification whatsoever.

"This is a dreadful way to treat private investors who are making a significant input(£160m)  to levelling up the North.

"I call on both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak to use their influence to bring this to a conclusion and the very least that should be done is the planning inspectors report and reccomendation should be made public immediately."

Victoria Marsom of Friends of the Earth, said: “The case against this coal mine is overwhelming regardless of how many times the decision is delayed.

“The UK and European market for coking coal is set to rapidly diminish as manufacturers switch to greener steel, while coal from this mine won’t replace Russian imports. However, this new mine will increase carbon emissions, with the government’s climate watchdog describing it as “absolutely indefensible”.

“Fossil fuels cause enormous damage to both our environment and economy. Areas like Cumbria should be at the heart of building the greener future we need, so they can reap the benefits of the new jobs and opportunities this would bring.”