THOUSANDS of former miners who say they are being denied compensation for a condition that also affected former prime minister Margaret Thatcher have taken their fight to MPs.

Two months ago, the Department of Work and Pensions refused to recognise Dupuytren’s contracture as a prescribed disease, a decision described as a disgrace by the Durham Miners’ Association.

Dupuytren, for which there is no cure, is a condition in which the fingers gradually curl over into a claw-like state, and which in extreme cases can lead to amputation. It is common among former pitmen.

Miners’ association secretary Alan Cummings confirmed that the association has written to all members of the Northern Group of Labour MPs appealing for support to overturn the DWP’s decision.

He said: “We want to put as much pressure on them as possible to get the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey to reverse the decision. We will not let this matter rest.”