The UK's remaining coal-fired power stations will be shut by 2025 with their use restricted by 2023, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd has announced.

Unveiling the government's new energy strategy, Ms Rudd said that relying on "polluting" coal is "perverse".

In a speech later today it is expected she will announce gas will become "central" to the UK's energy supply.

Environmental groups welcomed the move away from coal but criticised plans to focus on gas instead of renewables.

'Safe and reliable'

Currently, coal provides almost a third (28%) of the UK's electricity, but Ms Rudd said "We are tackling a legacy of underinvestment and ageing power stations which we need to replace with alternatives that are reliable, good value for money and help to reduce emissions."

Ms Rudd is also expected to say that investment in nuclear power is vital to the government's policy.

She believes that plans for new nuclear power stations, including at Wylfa in Wales and Moorside in Cumbria, could provide almost a third of the low carbon electricity the UK needs for the next 15 years.

"Opponents of nuclear misread the science. It is safe and reliable," Ms Rudd will say.

The speech comes amid concerns that the UK could suffer from blackouts as a result of short supplies, brought about in large part from the closure of a number of power stations that have come to the end of their working lives.

However, National Grid and many experts have dismissed these concerns.

Source: BBC