miners who were affected but everyone who supplied the pit and the community as well."otesters clashed in 1984, added: "She used miners as a political springboard. She knew what she was doing and it was a horrible way to go about it. They did it withou

Mr Vaines, who went on to work at Britain's biggest pit - the Prince of Wales near Pontefract before it closed 10 years ago with the loss of 450 jobs - added that while his political opinions have changed over the years, he will never be able to forgive Mrs Thatcher for her actions during the strike.

"I'm quite liberal about things now," he said. "I've gone into management positions and take a more global view, but I still feel as strongly now aboutthings as I did when they happened."

Mick Dickinson, 47, who worked at Fryston Colliery near Castleford, West Yorkshire, said Mrs Thatcher will inevitably be remembered as a great leader by many - but they are unlikely to hail from West Yorkshire's former mining communities.

The former pit electrician, who picketed throughout the 1984-85 strike, said: "She will go down in history as one of the greatest post-war prime ministers thanks to the privatisation she was driving the country into, and some of the nationalised industries did need to change.

"But I think she took the miners' strike too personally and it became a personal crusade.

"We went into a battle with our unions and we never won. She devastated the industry and devastated people's lives.

"We have hate and resentment for what