AFTER spending five years at the coalface, a Rawtenstall coal merchant was invited to sit at the table of royalty.

Will Pilling, owner of long-standing family business C and B Coal in Waterfoot, was a guest at the 125th anniversary Coal Trade Benevolent Association Festival Dinner, attended by patron HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.

The function in Kensington was attended by the top 200 coal merchants in the UK.

Mr Pilling, 39, of Woodcroft Avenue, Rawtenstall, who represents the fourth generation of his family to run the firm, said it was an honour to be invited to the event.

He said: “I hadn’t been in a room with royalty before and I suppose that would be the same for a lot of people.

“It was also nice to catch up with a lot of top people in the coal industry.” The owner of the company off Bacup Road was invited to attend the dinner as a mark of his business success and customer service.

He said: “More and more people are coming back to coal because of the rising prices of gas and electricity and the uncertainty of how much might be going out of their bank accounts each month to pay those bills.

“With coal, whether it’s by delivery or cash and carry, they know how much they are getting for their money.

“The sales of stoves have also gone up 400 per cent in the last two years, which means we also supply a lot of smokeless fuel, wood and renewables.

“And we always make sure, whatever the weather, we get through to make deliveries, especially to our older customers who need fuel when it gets cold