Workers at the UK's last coal-fired power plant prepare to say goodbye

The cooling towers have dominated the Nottinghamshire skyline for decades

Workers at the UK's last active coal-fired power station say "it'll be a sad day" when the plant closes for good in September.

Jon Newcombe joined Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station as an apprentice 42 years ago.

His son, Aran Newcombe, followed in his father's footsteps and joined the plant in 2007 as an apprentice.

Aran met his wife working there and says he has got a lot to thank the plant for.

Construction work started on the power station in 1963

The power station has been generating electricity for 57 years.

It was commissioned by the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1967, with a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, enough to power two million homes.

The station is owned by international energy company, Uniper.

It will close on 30 September as part of government plans to end coal production in the UK.

Aran Newcombe (left) says he always wanted to follow in his father Jon's footsteps

Father and son team Jon and Aran both joined the power station from school, both starting as apprentices.

Jon now works on the mechanical maintenance team and will retire when the plant closes.

He said: "I've got a big affinity to this place and the people. I don't particularly want to be part of breaking it up and decommissioning.

"I've worked on a lot of it, maintained it for that long. It'll be a sad day."

Aran works as a senior authorised person in the control room and is one of 125 Uniper staff who will stay on at the plant for decommissioning.

He said: "It's going to be quite sad at times, taking apart something you've been coming to for 16 years. I guess it's done, it's time, and needs to be taken down."

John Roberts, an electrical engineer, is one of the longest serving members of staff.

He started working at the plant as an apprentice 44 years ago and will retire in September.

He said: "I've spent such a long time keeping it going, we're all a team. I'm one of the longest because it's a great place to work. I've enjoyed the good days, and the ones that aren't so good, you still enjoy, because it's a challenge."

Why is coal production ending in the UK?

Coal once dominated the East Midlands region, but the coal mines have shut, and the UK's last coal-fired power station will cease production in September.

Coal is a fossil fuel and has been generating electricity in Great Britain since the Industrial Revolution, but it is now known to be Britain's dirtiest fossil fuel because of the impact it has on the environment.

When coal burns, it releases greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.

Over time, the build-up of those gases has increased global temperatures, by trapping extra energy in the Earth's atmosphere.

The UK has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

To help achieve that target, the UK government has made a series of ambitious pledges, which include achieving fully "clean" electricity by 2035, by rapidly increasing wind, solar, and nuclear power.

Decommissioning at the Ratcliffe plant will start on 1 October and will take two years to complete.

Demolition of the cooling towers and the rest of the 655-acre site will start once decommissioning is complete.