THE red carpet was rolled out in Durham on Thursday night for the UK premiere of a new Ken Loach film set in a former mining community destroyed by Tory butchery.

Among cast of the The Old Oak, which was written by Paul Laverty and directed by Mr Loach, are working people and activists from once-thriving mining communities of the Durham coalfield.

The film depicts a struggling community into which Syrian refugees arrive in 2016.

Actor Heather Wood from Easington told the Morning Star: “I’ve known Ken for 40 years or so — before the miners’ strike.

“Every so often he keeps coming back into my life and says ‘do you fancy doing this or that?’

“I was in Ken’s film ‘Sorry I missed you.’ He said that was his last film. Then he rang me and said he was making another. I’ve actually got a small speaking part.”

She hopes the film will counter growing threats from the far-right in north-east England and elsewhere in Britain.

The film goes on general release on September 29.