PLANS to fill the abandoned mines under Northwich town centre have moved a step nearer completion.

A £1.2 million cash boost from English Partnerships will allow the final stages of exploratory work to be completed.

This involves Vale Royal Borough Council monitoring the scale of the subsidence and behaviour of the mines.

The council is seeking help from experts at Keele University who have developed micro-seismology techniques which can measure precise seismic movement.

Once the exploration has been completed, it is hoped that work on filling the mines can begin.

The council proposes to fill the mines with a mixture of pulverised fuel ash, rock salt, cement and brine which will be injected into the mines through a series of boreholes.

Agreements have been reached, in principle, with Brunner Mond to use its rail facilities to transport the ash.

The ash will be brought by rail from Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, near Warrington, to Winnington where it will be mixed with the cement and brine.

This mixture will then be pumped, via a new pipeline, to boreholes which are expected to be sited at car parks throughout the town centre.

By positioning the boreholes on car parks the council hopes to keep disruption to residents and visitors to a minimum.

George Westlake, Mines Project Manager, said: "Most of the area is accessible without disruption to the town."

Leader of the Council Bob Mather said of the project: "In doing the work we are writing the book.

"This has never been done before, it is unique."

The work to fill the mines, which will be entirely funded by the government, is scheduled to begin in 2003 with completion in 2006.