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Inside Out spoke to Andy Hayman – a former deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard – who explains how the Strike marked a turning point in British politics where political agendas began to interfere with police work.

Although it was centred around northern collieries, the scale of the unrest meant that police forces from all over the country – including convoys from the London Met - had to be drafted in to assist.

Amazingly, the downfall of the miners was orchestrated from a tiny Scotland Yard control room manned by a couple of officers and a typist – a far cry from the high-tech operation one might have imagined.

It was dubbed the "National Reporting Centre".

Inside Out spoke to the men and women who worked there, who recall how Mrs Thatcher wanted constant briefings on what was going on – despite the fact that the officers were so in the dark that they had to rely on BBC reporters for their updates!