Constantin Jujan, the director of Petrila's mine, holding an old shovel in the mining school in Petrila, central Romania. At the foot of the majestic Carpathian mountains, Petrila waits in dread for the closure of its coal mine, the oldest in Romania and the life force of a town struggling to survive.

Pressure is being put from the European Commission, the EU executive, on member governments to cut subsidies to loss-making mines means the one in Petrila, two elsewhere in Romania and several others across the 27-member bloc will be shut down by 2018. Demolition work has already started.

Two miners talking in the Petrila mine before entering the gallery in Petrila, central Romania. In Spain, angry miners have staged protests and clashed with police. But those in Romania appear resigned to their fate, still smarting from violent protests in 1990 that many feel stigmatised them wrongly.

Petrila's 153-year-old mine has not only been the town's livelihood but its very identity. Petrila without mines would be like Bordeaux without its vineyards or Silicon Valley without its IT firms, locals say.

A miner heading towards a shower after a six hour nightshift in Petrila, central Romania. Some families cannot afford to pay their gas and electricity bills any more. They are given clothes so their children are not ashamed to go to school.

Miners returning their work equipment after their shift in a mine in Petrila, central Romania.

The centre for the miners children, ensures that around 100 children get a hot meal as well as psychological and educational help.

Traian, who receives a very low pension, collecting coal that fell from trains leaving from the Petrila mine, in order to warm his apartment in the winter in Petrila. There is no way his pension of 200 euros ($244) a month can pay for heating.

The miners know that they will have to leave as there is no work there anymore. It's sad for some because this is where they have grown up and where all their friends and family are. Some residents hope for better days in a region that they believe has immense tourism potential.