INDUSTRIAL services group Hargreaves has started coal shipments early from its Welsh colliery joint venture and arranged new banking facilities to fund its expansion.

Coal is being delivered from Tower Colliery in the Rhondda Valley in Wales to Aberthow Power Station, with which it has a three-year supply contract.

Hargreaves is running the opencast site on behalf of the former miners who bought the pit, the last deep coal mine in Wales. It expects the colliery to be fully operational by May.

A spokesman said: “Tower is progressing rapidly through fast investment in capital equipment and as a result of the three-year contract to supply RWE’s Aberthow Power Station.”

Hargreaves revealed the early start to production as it announced a reorganisation of its group banking agreements, to increase its facilities from £115m to £175m.

This consists of a £125m revolving credit facility and a £50m invoice finance facility. The agreement, with RBS, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander and Barclays – is committed to October 2015.