11 per cent of Britain sits on coalfields, of which 15 per cent is considered High Risk. Common risks range from gradual to catastrophic failure of the ground from features such as shafts, adits, underground and opencast workings.

Risks from mine workings are by no means limited to coalfields. Many areas of the UK have a significant mining heritage for the extraction of natural resources, ranging from iron, lead and tin amongst other metal ores to non-metallic workings extracting limestones, chalk, clays, aggregates, salts and potash. All of these can also pose a risk to existing and proposed developments where present.