Miners have received �1.7bn in compensation

The controversy surrounds payments made to miners and their families for mining-related disabilities.

Nottingham North MP Graham Allen says some solicitors have deducted fees from final settlements - even though legal costs were covered by the government.

He wants an inquiry into the operation of the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors which monitors complaints about the level of fees levied by solicitors.

Name and shame

Mr Allen said: "I want solicitors who have exploited loopholes to come clean and promise not to do it again.

"I want them to repay any miners or widows that they have taken fees from.

"I will have no hesitation of naming and shaming, in the House of Commons, the solicitors who are doing this."

Some miners have paid up to 25% of their claims to solicitors - in one case more than �5,000 - because they agreed to unnecessary "no win no fee" contracts.

The government has already paid �1.7bn in compensation to former miners and their families for illnesses relating to their work.

The Department of Trade and Industry runs agreed claim-handling schemes, which mean most miners do not have to pay any legal fees.

Mr Allen says he wants any solicitors who have taken fees in the past to come forward.

The payments mostly relate to miners who have suffered from breathing problems such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.