The communities will find it hard to believe that their long struggle for justice is finally over

Aditi Sharma Action for Southern Africa

It depends on the company being able to raise the money and set up of a trust to administer the cash.

The building materials company, Cape, has not admitted liability. It no longer produces asbestos, which can cause cancer and other lung diseases that can take many years to develop.

Cape sold its South African mines in 1979 and now specialises in decontamination.

Pressure group Action for Southern Africa (Actsa), which has campaigned in Britain to hold Cape responsible for health and safety in its mines and mills, welcomed the agreement on Friday.

"The communities will find it hard to believe that their long struggle for justice is finally over," said acting director Aditi Sharma.

Victims' fund

Leigh, Day & Co, the legal firm which acted on behalf of the claimants, said the fund would be called the Hendrik Afrika Trust after one of the victims.

It will make payments to those who can show they suffer from the disease as a result of working or living in the vicinity of one of Cape's former operations in South Africa.

Cape mined in South Africa during the apartheid era

In a landmark judgement, British law lords last year granted claimants in the case the right to sue Cape in the UK courts.

The miners have been claiming compensation for diseases they believe they contracted while working for Cape between 1930 and 1979 when the firm was mining asbestos in the northern Cape and other northern provinces of South Africa.

The claimants say they contracted diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma - a form of cancer.

MPs back miners

Thirty-seven members of the British parliament signed a motion calling on Cape to reach a just and equitable settlement swiftly, said Leigh, Day & Co.

About 300 claimants have died uncompensated since the case started, and many more will die before the conclusion of the case

Lawyers Leigh, Day & Co

"About 300 claimants have died uncompensated since the case started, and many more will die before the conclusion of the case," the law firm said.

Five law lords in London ruled that the miners could be denied justice in South Africa because of a lack of developed procedures for such a potentially protracted group action.

A settlement of �21m would be worth slightly under �3,000 per claimant.