Fiddler's Ferry: Coal-fired power station closes after 50 years

Energy firm SSE announced last summer it was closing its last coal-fired station

A landmark coal-fired power station in Cheshire has closed after nearly 50 years in operation.

Energy firm SSE announced in June it was shutting the Fiddler's Ferry site near Warrington, Cheshire - its last coal-fired station.

The closure "is the right thing to do" as the UK moves towards cleaner ways of producing energy, SSE has said.

It comes five years ahead of the government's target to end coal-fired electricity generation, the firm added.

The station - which has two groups of four cooling towers - opened in 1973

Stephen Wheeler, managing director of SSE Thermal, said the closure was "a landmark moment for SSE, and the wider energy industry, as we transition to a net-zero emissions future".

The power station had made "a huge contribution to the local area", he added.

The facility became fully operational in 1973 and produced enough electricity to power about two million homes.

It follows the closure of the company's coal-fired Ferrybridge C station in West Yorkshire in 2016.