The 56-acre Whittle Colliery, just off the A1 south of Alnwick, had been destined to go to auction in London on February 18, with an asking price of £4million.

But it was withdrawn before the sale went ahead, and has now been rescheduled for Tuesday.

The lot will comprise the cleared site of the colliery, which closed in 1997.

There is a concrete roadway running the length of the site and around 2.5million tons of extractable coal beneath it.

Negotiations have been under way with Alnwick District Council's planning department, which favours turning it into a combined hotel and chalet development for holidaymakers.

The site lies along the east side of the A1 and has a mile of roadway alongside it, five miles to the south of Alnwick and one mile north of Newton on the Moor. Acklington and Hipsburn railway stations are nearby.

There are three landscaped lakes occupying an elevated position with views over the surrounding open countryside, which were formerly used to drain dirty minewater but are now stocked with fish.

Simon Riggall, head of auctions at Colliers CRE, said: "Following guidance meetings with the council, they have indicated a preference for a development incorporating a good quality hotel and restaurant complex with event facilities at the entrance of the site, with log cabins and fishing lodges across the remainder of the site. Any development should enhance the site and integrate it within the local footpath network."

Peter Biggers, head of planning at the district council, said: "Tourism and accommodation, if it's done right, would be the least problematic solution for that site, and could achieve its restoration.

"We would want to see something that would protect the ecology along the Hazon Burn, while offering a mix of serviced accommodation and self-catering."

Whittle in its heyday, alongside neighbouring Shilbottle, was famous for producing the best quality steam coal in the UK.