NORTH Sea oil and gas licences may be ruled unlawful after plans for Britain’s first coalmine in 30 years were thrown out at the High Court, a leading campaigner said today.

The government was urged to provide to sustainable jobs and a “coherent” industrial strategy after the ruling left “all eyes on” judicial reviews of the proposed Rosebank and Jackdaw offshore oil and gas fields.

Planning permission for a new mine in Whitehaven in Cumbria was quashed after claims it would be “net zero” were challenged by Friends of the Earth (FoE) and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC).