Peter Hain: "Mammoth task"

Mr Hain said payments have been delayed by accuracy checks but the contractor, Healthcall, has now "engaged extra resources" to speed up the process.

This action "will result in twice as many claims being processed to clear the backlog - that's up to 1,000 a week for the next 12 weeks".

The minister also pledged to end the "unacceptable" situation of elderly and retired miners waiting behind their younger, fitter colleagues for assessment.

He said: "For my part, I'll ensure that the elderly and most injured are seen first, although that had not been happening.

"We are also prioritising widows who are claiming on behalf of their late husbands."

But Mr Hain said processing the compensation claims was a "mammoth task" made more difficult by the "complex" legal proceedings started under the last Tory government.

"This is the biggest personal injury claim ever in Britain - and possibly in the world," he said.

Tom Clarke sought assurances in the Commons

"With fresh claims coming in all the time, there could be well over 150,000 claims to settle. About 1,000 a week are still being received."

But Mr Clarke said: "We are not simply referring to statistics, we're talking about people."

He told MPs how his own father had died of pneumoconiosis, a lung disease suffered by many former miners, aged 53.

He added: "Justice delayed is justice denied."