COMMUNITY leaders in the Selby district have welcomed a campaign to put the area's former mines firmly on the map.

They backed the idea to include the area's closed pits on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps to mark the importance of the once-booming industry.

District councillor Steve Shaw-Wright, a former coalface worker at Riccall mine, said he backed the campaign to recognise the area's industrial heritage.

He said: "You look back on history and a lot of people do not know where things are and they do not know what heritage we have lost.

"People need to be able to look at where things are today and where things once were and understand the relevance."

The campaign was launched last month by 21-year-old artist Rachel Horne, whose father worked at Cadeby Main Colliery, near Doncaster.

Currently mines are only marked on the maps where buildings still exist at the pit head.

But Ms Horne wants all future OS maps to mark the position of closed mines with a pit wheel symbol, in a similar way to how historic sites are indicated.

Union leaders have backed the campaign and more than 60 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion supporting the move.

Coun Shaw-Wright said: "The Selby pit complex was the largest piece of civil engineering in Europe. It was a massive piece of work. It should at least be marked on the map.

"A lot of changes have happened to Selby because of the mines and there was a massive boost in housing and lots of money in the local economy.

"There is a legacy. It is a small one but it is a significant one. "

The campaign was also backed by Coun Brian Percival who in 2004 proposed that a life-size statue of a miner should be built on the Selby bypass to honour the pits' contribution to the area.

He said: "Provided that they are shown as sites of former mines, why not? People should never forget their heritage and it is important that we remember all of our history."

Scott Sinclair, spokesman for Ordnance Survey, said the maps are aimed leisure users and including mines could make them cluttered.

He said: "We listen carefully to what people want by way of clarity and accuracy on our maps.

"The national specification we use is designed to satisfy the overwhelming majority of our customers.

"A key consideration is the need to avoid clutter while optimising the level of content."