THE Government was last night attacked for jumping the gun after hailing an "important breakthrough" in settling compensation payments to thousands of sick former miners.

Energy Minister Brian Wilson told the House of Commons agreement had been reached with miners' solicitors on a major sticking point.

He said this would allow the Department of Trade and Industry to make full and final offers in cases where previously there were bureaucratic delays and disagreements over individual miners' work histories.

But last night, the announcement was criticised, with one miners' leader claiming it could still be five years before all claims were met.

Mr Wilson was also accused of being too hasty by solicitors who said discussions with the Government over the issue of work histories had not yet been concluded.

David Guy, County Durham area president of the National Union of Mineworkers, said: "We welcome anything that helps move the claims process on for claimants who are wanting justice for a lifetime of suffering.

"But with the number of claims still coming in, we still envisage that with the resources at the Government's disposal we could be looking at five years to settle everything."

North-East solicitor Roger Maddocks, who is a member of the national steering group on miners' compensation claims, said it was still talking to the Government on changes to the original agreement setting out how cases would be handled.

He said: "Discussions have not yet been concluded on work histories and we cannot yet claim a breakthrough, so Mr Wilson appears to have been misinformed."

Ben Aitken, whose lungs were wrecked by years working down the pits, is still waiting for his claim to be concluded.

A miner for 46 years, the 78-year-old, of Wheatley Hill, County Durham, suffers from chronic bronchitis and emphysema and requires four blasts of ventilated oxygen a day and a constant stream of antibiotics. "I keep phoning the solicitors and asking them to keep pushing, but I am still waiting," he said.

"I've told my two sons to keep going with my claim whatever happens because I don't know whether I will see Christmas at this rate."

An agreement on work histories could benefit about 30 per cent of the estimated 30,000 lung disease claimants in the North-East.

Wrangles over employment histories are often exacerbated by the death of a claimant, when families have to provide detailed information on loved ones' employment history dating back as far as 1955.

To make matters worse, many records held by the former National Coal Board have been destroyed or lost.

Yesterday, Mr Wilson told MPs that compensation payments had now reached £600m, but could reach ten times that, with claims still coming in at 1,000 a week.

He said: "We now intend to break the log jam and make thousands of full and final offers in the next few weeks.

"And my target for the end of next year is 50,000 full and final offers being made."

Kevan Jones, Labour MP for Durham North, said much more effort had to be made to speed up claims. "People in my constituency are dying before their claims are being considered," he said.

In 1998, British Coal was found to have failed to take steps to prevent miners inhaling dust.But huge delays in paying out the compensation cash followed, prompting The Northern Echo to begin its Justice for Miners campaign.