British mining mogul dubbed 'King Coal' declared bankrupt after racking up millions of pounds in debt

The British mining mogul dubbed 'King Coal' has been declared bankrupt after racking up millions of pounds of debts.



Richard Budge made his name during the privatisation of the UK's coal mines, buying up large parts on the industry, and until 2001 led the firm that became known as UK Coal.



He has since run a number of firms that entered insolvency, including Coal Power in 2003, Directional Drilling in 2005 and Powerfuel in 2010.



Richard Budge at Hatfield Colliery in South Yorkshire.

Now the entrepreneur, 66, has been declared bankrupt in the last week after a creditor, which will next week be named publicly as 'Wade Furniture Group Limited', called in his debts.



He left his family firm AF Budge - which held investments in yachts, old books and military hardware, including a Scud missile - in 1992, just ten months before it went bust with losses of around £65m.



Full details of his bankruptcy are expected to be released this coming week, including the full extent of his personal debts, which are believed to rank in the millions.



