EUROPE is to be called on to help Selby cope with the disastrous closure of its coalfield in 20 months' time.

A special task force which met at the Selby Fork Hotel on the A1 yesterday agreed to explore ways of getting Europe to open its coffers to the shattered town whose 2,200 miners will lose their jobs.

Another 2,000 related jobs are also under threat as a result of the decision.

European help would be on top of the £40 million rescue package announced ten days ago by Energy Minister Brian Wilson, of which £30 million goes to the task force and the balance to guarantee pitmen's redundancy packages worth up to £27,000.

Lord Haskins, the former boss of Northern Foods charged with resurrecting the rural economy after the foot and mouth crisis, is chairman of the Selby task force.

He agreed personally to take charge of the group, which will try to find ways of getting the EU to officially regard Selby as a place of "special need."

That way, Selby would gain access to about £20 million in the Objective 2 European development fund - money for which in the past the town has not qualified.

Special representations will be made to Europe for extra money within the European fund to help the town regenerate new industry.

This group - one of three formed by the task force - will study the medium and long-term industrial and commercial needs of Selby.

A second group, headed by Alan Wallace, chief executive of the Coalfields Trust, will analyse immediate needs by talking to miners, businesses and suppliers, a process which has already begun.

A third group under Jeremy Walker, chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, will study the wider economic issues.

Don Stewart, executive director of Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, said: "Details on this have already been published by Professor John Shutt, of Leeds Metropolitan University, who we commissioned, but we need to look at the wider impact of the pit closures and their solutions.

"For example while work is going on to build a Selby by-pass, should we be looking at roundabouts there placed in such a way as to open up land for industrial development?"

Meanwhile, skills experts in North Yorkshire have earmarked £250,000 to help retrain Selby miners into new jobs.

Even before the closure announcement, the Clifton Moor-based Learning and Skills Council North Yorkshire had already identified Selby District as needing particular support.

David Harbourne, chief executive of the LSC North Yorkshire and a member of the new task force, said: "The LSC has already been working with Yorkshire Forward and other partners to boost learning and skills in the area. Our aim now must be to invest even more time and money in helping people develop new skills because this will boost their chances of finding other ways of making a living, such as starting a second career or setting up their own businesses.

"The LSC has an important role to play here, alongside Yorkshire Forward, Jobcentre Plus and others. We have excellent links with learning providers in the area, backed up by detailed knowledge of trends in the labour market. We will also act as the link with other local LSCs - notably in West and South Yorkshire.

"This is important, because many of the people who work in the Selby mines actually live outside the county of North Yorkshire and we will need to make sure learning opportunities are open to them where they live as well as where they work."

Updated: 15:48 Friday, July 26, 2002