London | British green groups have vowed to fight on against Melbourne mining veteran Owen Hegarty's £165 million ($289 million) coking coal mine in northern England, after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government waved through the controversial project.

The Woodhouse Colliery, which will churn out up to 2.7 million tonnes of coal a year, got a green light from local authorities last October. But it was only this week that the project cleared the final hurdle: Robert Jenrick, the cabinet minister responsible for planning, said he would not stand in its way.