Battle of Orgreave: Inquiry decision expected

Police held back striking miners who were attempting to stop lorries of coke leaving Orgreave coking plant for steel works

Campaigners demanding a public inquiry into the so-called Battle of Orgreave during the miners' strike are expecting an announcement from the government.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd is thought to have said she will decide by the end of October whether to launch a probe into police conduct on the day.

Thousands of miners and police clashed at the Yorkshire coking site in 1984.

Campaigners say South Yorkshire Police officers were excessively heavy-handed and manufactured statements.

What was the 'Battle of Orgreave'?

Orgreave: The battle that's not over

Barbara Jackson, secretary of Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, said: "We trust that Amber Rudd will announce the only right decision, namely that there must be an inquiry into what happened at Orgreave and after it. These events are too serious to let them lie."

Thousands of miners and around 6,000 police officers clashed at the Orgreave coking site near Rotherham in June 1984

Ms Jackson said the group had "real concerns", however, about what sort of inquiry would be established.

Momentum for an Orgreave inquiry has escalated since the conclusion of the two-year Hillsborough inquests, which provided a scathing assessment of the under-fire police force's behaviour.

Read more about this story and others from across South Yorkshire

In September, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MPs including Dennis Skinner gathered for a demonstration outside Parliament to lend their support to the campaign