Hargreaves Services have agreed to acquire the assets of Scottish Coal in a deal valued at £8.4 million, in a move that is likely to protect hundreds of jobs in the region.

Hargreaves is planning to re-open mines at Broken Cross in South Lanarkshire and House of Water and Chalmerston in East Ayrshire and begin restoration work at Damside in North Lanarkshire and St Ninians in Fife. This will save a total of 300 jobs with immediate effect as the people will go back to work at het sites. There are indications that the job protected by the deal will rise to 500 over time.

The new company has said that it will not own the mines but will invest about £25 million in to the mines and is aiming to extract 1 million tonnes of coal during first year. Due to the arrangements of the mines, the ownership has been transferred to a new Scottish Coal holding company and Hargreaves will have the option to acquire the firm at a later date.

The subsidiaries of the company will “continue to be responsible for the resolution of outstanding restoration liabilities at these sites”. Hargreaves has also acquired around 30,000 acres of land, plant and equipment and potential wind farm interests from the Scottish Resources Group (SRG).