The February blaze led to the closure of the underground mine and put 650 employees out of work.

A UK Coal spokesman told BBC News the oxygen supply to the mine had been cut off and the area would remain sealed for the foreseeable future.

The fire left the company with cashflow problems and prompted speculation of liquidity or nationalisation.

The Sunday Times reported last week that discussions at Whitehall seemed to be leaning towards whether the Coal Authority, the publicly owned successor body to the National Coal Board, could relieve UK Coal of Daw Mill, saving it from financial crisis.

“We are looking at whether the ownership of Daw Mill can be transferred back to the Coal Authority,” Fallon told the newspaper.

But UK Coal chief executive officer Kevin McCullough maintains that the company is viable.

"We remain positive that we have an underlying profitable business,” McCullough said last week.

"I hope we are close to securing a way forward for our remaining mines. There will undoubtedly be some difficult decisions as we have had to look at all possible options."

UK Coal states on its website that the fire at Daw Mill was the largest seen in a UK coal mine in more than 30 years.