THE conveyor between the Glenmuckloch site in Kirkconnel and Grievehill has been dismantled and placed in storage after planning permission to use it expired last August.

The conveyor was originally put in place to take coal lorries off of our roads.

In 2006, the conveyor belt system - one of the longest in Europe - was backed by £2.2million of Scottish Government cash.

The Scottish Executive announced the huge cash injection, from the Freight Facilities Grant, to help former coal operator, ATH Resources, construct the seven-mile system, which linked their Glenmuckloch opencast with a rail head terminal at Crowbandsgate, just outside New Cumnock.

Upon completion, the main overland conveyor helped enable the company to transfer its coal by rail to Longannet Power Station in Fife and to other power stations across the UK.

A spokesperson for current operator, Hargreaves Surface Mining Ltd, said: “This section of the conveyor is being dismantled and stored.” When planning permission to use the conveyor expired, Hargreaves asked for changes in operating conditions to allow coal to be taken by road north up the A76.

The Chronicle revealed in May how Dumfries and Galloway Council controversially gave the company permission.

This was despite objections from New Cumnock Community Council and a recommendation from East Ayrshire Council NOT to allow it to happen.

It was estimated that an additional eight lorries an hour could now pass through New Cumnock during an 11-hour working day.

The Kirkconnel site straddles the border of both authorities.