The plea submitted in writing on Friday to a Leeds Crown Court judge refocused attention on the company’s troubled Kellingley pit which suffered three deaths in the last three years.

The BBC reported that the UK’s biggest coal miner pleaded guilty for health and safety breaches at the mine’s coal face and failing to ensure powered roof supports were properly maintained.

The company will not be sentenced, however, until completion of a related trial with original equipment manufacturer Joy Mining Machinery.

According to the BBC, the OEM denied a charge of failing to provide all necessary information about the health and safety risks related to use of its powered roof supports at Kellingley.

One of the UK’s largest mines, Kellingley has been plagued by a string of incidents in recent years.

In September 2008 and September 2011, rock falls killed two Kellingley miners and a 2010 methane gas explosion reportedly forced 218 miners to evacuate.

In December last year, UK Coal was ordered to pay $US1.9 million in fines and costs for safety failings which cost the lives of four mineworkers between 2006 and 2007 in separate incidents at two mines in Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands.

The fines came after the company pleaded guilty to seven health and safety breaches.

UK Coal is Britain's biggest producer of coal, employing 2900 people in central and northern England.