A MOTHER whose dead baby's brain was retained without permission ten years ago is still waiting for compensation - because lawyers are haggling over money.

Fiona Chilton, from Clifton, York, is one of more than 2,000 mothers across the UK who are members of the Nationwide Organ Retention Group.

They are seeking compensation after their babies or children were stripped of organs in 150 NHS hospitals.

Ms Chilton's premature-born daughter Emma's brain was removed during a post-mortem examination at York Hospital, in 1994.

The group's Bristol-based solicitors Clarke Willmott holds a £3.3m settlement from the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA), which is acting on behalf of all the health authorities involved.

But the solicitors have not distributed the settlement among the families because of negotiations over their costs.

Ms Chilton, 30, is so angry about the delays she has breached a confidentiality agreement to make the delays public.

She said: "It's not even about money, it's about my baby. I'm determined to keep pushing at it, but there's no one to push, the hospital won't even speak to me."

A spokeswoman for Clarke Willmott said the firm could not comment because of the confidentiality agreement.

But the NHSLA said Clarke Willmott was saying that, because the NHSLA was not paying everything it wanted and they were not prepared to reduce their costs, it may ask clients to contribute to the balance.

"Essentially, the only way it will be resolved is if we pay huge costs to them and we are saying we cannot do that because we don't think it's justified," said a spokesman.

He said each family should have received a written apology from their local trust, but, if that had not happened in Ms Chilton's case, he would ensure that it was done.