Northumbria police destroy Battle of Orgreave and other miners’ strike files

Pickets being brought to the ground, in what became known as the Battle of Orgreave. Photograph: Don McPhee/The Guardian

Police have destroyed documents relating to the Battle of Orgreave in 1984 during the miners’ strike, which is the subject of a forthcoming official inquiry.

Northumbria police disposed of the papers less than a month before Rishi Sunak called last summer’s election, which brought the Labour party into government with a longstanding manifesto pledge to hold an inquiry into the scenes of violent policing at Orgreave.