UP to 60,000 tonnes of coal is to be dug in Newcastle city centre opposite St James’ Park.

Bosses behind the city’s Science Central project need to mine coal from the site of the former Tyne Brewery in order to build a multi-storey office block set to be the future home of green energy research.

With mining due to begin next spring it means there will be the possibility of dust and noise filling the air while across the road at St James’ Park Olympic football is being played out.

The 24-acre site, bordered on some sides by family homes, is riddled with the remains of the former North Elswick Colliery.

Officers at development company 1NG said they would have to pay up to £5m to flatten the land and pour thousands of tonnes of cement, which is ecologically damaging, into the old mine workings before new building work could go ahead.

With no spare cash available for the much-delayed project, planners have decided to allow coal mining firms to dig up the site, letting them keep the coal as payment for the six-month long job.

Traffic increase and vibrations from the site will bring disruption to hundreds of families living nearby.

The Science Central project is backed by Newcastle University and Newcastle Council.

Any eventual contractor selected for the coal removal is expected to pay back £3-a-tonne in royalties.

Professor Paul Younger, the university’s director of research on sustainable energy, is one of the UK’s leading experts on mining environmental management.

He has played down concerns that paying for site works by selling coal would damage the project’s green credentials.