THOUSANDS of Australians could receive a cut of the compensation cash available to British miners and their families, it has been revealed.
Australian law firm Ryan Carlisle and Thomas is to hold talks with Department of Trade and Industry lawyers over compensation claims.
Thousands of Australians worked in the British mines, and many of them are expected to make a claim after contracting lung disease through breathing coal dust.
Rohan Atherton, a partner at the law firm, said: "We've had about 1,200 people who have registered with us and we anticipate significantly more. About 40 to 50 per cent of claimants are sons, daughters and widows of the miners."
Last night, miners' campaigner Pat Daglish, from East Stanley, County Durham, said: "If these Australian men have worked down the mines and they fit the criteria, they are entitled to compensation the same as everybody else.
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