The miners have not felt any tremors

Residents of Maltby have complained of experiencing early morning mini-earthquakes throughout December.

And they claim the tremors, heard between 0300 and 0400 GMT, are the result of a nearby mining operation.

UK Coal, which operates the site, admits it is possible their machinery is causing the early-morning rumblings.

Company spokesman Stuart Oliver said: "The actual tremor zone is outside the zone of influence of mining, but it might well be that the mining is a trigger mechanism.

"The tremors are actually taking place outside the mining area and this is what is intriguing.

"Where the mining is taking place we are not experiencing any tremors at all, in fact, men working underground when these tremors occur do not experience anything."