MINING history experts got close to an old shaft in Coalpit Heath when it opened up in a road yards from a conference they were attending.

The enthusiasts, some from as far away as Australia, had been meeting at the Miners Institute for a weekend of talks and tours of the area's former collieries.

But it was given added interest when they discovered the subsidence in Woodend Road was caused by the collapse of the shaft, allowing members of the National Association of Mining Heritage Organisations (NAMHO) to examine the hole in the road.

The conference was hosted by the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group and other local organisations.

Research group chairman, Steve Grudgings, said: "Never before has the NAMHO conference been faced with that sort of in-your-face, real-time mining heritage being discovered.

"We don't know the cause of the subsidence and the Coal Authority is investigating. We have our ideas but these need to be tested.

"It was an exciting talking point to see the road subside close to where the delegates were parking."

Another member of the group, Andy Brander, said the shaft had collapsed about a foot down but the hole underneath was bigger.

He said another shaft collapsed recently on the Mays Hill industrial estate.

South Gloucestershire has a long mining history and although the date of the earliest mining is not known, coal was worked until 1963.

Most of the mining was for coal, but ochre, celestine, iron, lead and stone were also mined in the area.

Thornbury and Yate MP Steve Webb opened the conference, which included a talk by TV archaeologist and Bristol University professor, Mark Horton.