Thousands of miners are claiming for illness after years down the pits

The Department of Trade and Industry release naming 100 firms removed from its approved list wrongly includes Ingrams of Hull and York.

The blacklist names firms which have broken guidelines by double charging claimants.

Ingrams said it "strongly refutes any suggestion that it has double charged".

Public apology

Company spokesman Steve Verrill blamed the error on an administrative "cock-up" at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which could be "very damaging" to Ingrams' reputation.

The company, which is handling around 8,000 miners' claims, will on Monday send a letter to trade minister Nigel Griffiths demanding a public apology, he said.

Under the coal health scheme, approved firms are paid a �2,100 flat fee by the government for handling miners' compensation claims relating to illnesses caused by working down the pits.

But the DTI says 100 firms have been removed from its approved list because they were also taking payments directly from the claimants, a practice known as double charging.

Ingrams had written to the DTI on a number of occasions to confirm it was abiding by the department's guidelines.

And it has had confirmation that it remains on the list of approved solicitors .

'Refund fees'

A DTI spokesman said: "There is always the possibility that there has been an oversight. If they (Ingrams) contact the DTI we will clarify the situation and rectify any error.

"Being named on the list of 100 does not automatically imply culpability of double charging.

"It is merely a list of solicitors who did not reply to our letters."

Meanwhile, Mr Griffiths said: "Solicitors who have double charged should be proactively paying back the money to miners and their families."

He has written to the Law Society asking it to take action to make sure solicitors handling claims refunded any fees taken rather than wait to be contacted by miners.