MPs at Westminster have condemned a decision to grant legal aid to two men who are the subject of a civil legal case being brought by the Omagh families.

The Omagh Victims legal trust has launched a civil case against five men and the Real IRA.

Twenty-nine men, women and children died and hundreds were injured when the Real IRA detonated a car bomb in the County Tyrone town on 15 August 1998 - a Saturday when the centre was full of shoppers.

More than 40 MPs signed an early day motion on Monday objecting to the decision to grant legal aid to Michael McKevitt and Liam Campbell.

Colm Murphy: Convicted of conspiring to cause the Omagh bombing

The motion has been backed by Ulster Unionists Roy Beggs and David Burnside and by former Northern Ireland Office ministers George Howarth and Malcolm Moss.

The five men blamed for the Omagh bombing are being sued for �10m by the relatives of those killed in the atrocity.

Lawyers representing the families have lodged a legal document which confirms the scale of the damages they want awarded against Michael McKevitt, 51; Liam Campbell, 38; Colm Murphy, 51; Seamus McKenna, 49, and 33-year-old Seamus Daly.

Lawyers for the relatives said the three-inch thick "statement of claim" detailed the agony they had endured.

We have cleared another hurdle and are now in the final stages now before we get to court Michael Gallagher

Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son Aidan died in the explosion, said the High Court action was not about money.

"Hopefully this will send a clear message that terrorism is not a profitable business to be involved in," he said.

"We have cleared another hurdle and are in the final stages now before we get to court."

He said the civil action was expected to be heard in Belfast later this year.

Writs were served against all five last July by the relatives' solicitors.

Two of the men who were served with civil writs accusing them of carrying out the Omagh bombing are to contest the case brought against them.

Michael McKevitt and Liam Campbell are being detained at Portlaoise prison in the Irish Republic

Solicitors acting for Liam Campbell and Michael McKevitt lodged papers with the High Court in Belfast declaring their intention to defend themselves last August.

Both men are being held in Portlaoise Prison in the Irish Republic on terrorist offences unconnected with Omagh.

They accepted the writs when a lawyer went to their cells, but Murphy, who is also being held there, refused.

Last year, Colm Murphy received a 14-year jail sentence for plotting to cause an explosion at the time of the Omagh bomb.

He is the only person convicted in connection with the bombing.