Former British nuclear test veterans from the North-East joined a mass lobby of Parliament yesterday to press for better treatment by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

They are angry that Defence ministers have refused to meet them.

The MoD is denying responsibility for the veterans' illnesses and says there are no grounds for paying general compensation.

The Government is also refusing to fund medical tests on families of veterans despite concerns over the genetic effects of the nuclear programme.

Dozens of veterans and civilians from the region who were involved in nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s have started legal proceedings against the Government after claiming that exposure to radiation led to chronic illness.

Sheila Gray, from Billingham, Teesside, who is the National Secretary of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans' Association, said: "We are here for the first time to be heard, and to counter the spurious replies from the MoD."

Her husband, Frank, who was serving in the Royal Marines when he witnessed a nuclear test at Monte Bello, off the Australian coast in 1952, died ten years ago.

The veterans' demands include granting of war pensions; compensation for dying veterans and their families; and blood and saliva medical tests which could prove evidence of irradiation 40 to 50 years after the nuclear explosions.