Albion Stone Quarries have cleared the final fence and secured planning permission to start mining the 50 years worth of limestone reserves from a new site at Stonehills on the Dorset island of Portland.

Albion have already started mining at Bowers quarry, although there the mining is only intended to yield a small amount of stone as a trial for the larger scale operation at Stonehills.

Stonehills will eventually replace the surface quarrying activities at Albion\'s Independent and Bowers quarries.

Planning consent comes at the conclusion of a Section 106 legal agreement with the Mineral Planning Authority.

The agreement includes a number of concessions by Albion, including the surrender of planning rights on millions of tonnes of Cherty Series (stone only suitable for crushing) in Independent and Bowers quarries, and an agreement to work within tight controls on activities generating noise.

Albion have agreed to the early restoration of Independent and Bowers for public amenity and nature conservation, the surrender of surface extraction permissions at Jordan\'s quarry and tighter ongoing controls on the operation for the Mineral Planning Authority.

The Crown Estate, which owns Albion\'s quarries, has additionally surrendered land at the Coastal Strip to safeguard environmentally sensitive land at no cost to the local people or tax payers.

Albion have pursued a policy of changing the method of extraction from surface quarrying to underground mining for the past 10 years.

Michael Poultney, managing director of Albion says: "This is wonderful news for the industry and the environment. We have spent years trying to get this planning permission and this Section 106 was the last piece of the Stonehills jigsaw. Portland will now have the modern extraction industry it deserves."