Could abandoned County Durham coal mines be used to heat homes?

They've been abandoned holes in the ground for three decades, but could County Durham's coal mines be resurrected to provide a new type of fuel? A renewable form of low-carbon energy - to heat thousands of homes and businesses?

It might sound like a far fetched idea, but that is exactly what experts from Durham University are hoping to explore in Spennymoor.

The Durham Energy Institute believes water used to flood abandoned mines below the ground could be used to heat homes, possibly providing cheaper energy.

Spennymoor, is a town that grew alongside the exploitation of its underlying coal reserves. When the mines were closed, water pumping stopped, leaving a legacy of flooded underground workings.

With 2,000 more homes planned for construction in the town, an ageing population and ever increasing fuel costs, the use of renewable and sustainable energy to heat public and private spaces has become even more important for the future.

Dr Charlotte Adams from Durham University is working on the project. In an interview with ITV News Tyne Tees, she said: "It's a very low impact scheme, there would be a need to put infrastructure in, but that could be done as part of the new housing developments that are planned and we are focusing on new developments for this project."

She added: "The mines are constantly filling and are currently overflowing in a nearby water course, so there is plenty of water down there and for the demand and the amount of water we'd take. We would think that this system could operate for quite a long time on a scale of decades."

ITV News Tyne Tees reporter, Amy Lea has been to Spennymoor to find out more about the project:

• 1960s archive footage of the former Dean and Chapter Colliery near Spennymoor courtesy of the North East Film Archive