The MP said this was only four less than the number of miners in Scotland who have successfully received compensation from the �1.6bn government fund.

Alasdair Morgan MP: Blamed government scheme

"There have been many concerns that the tests the government are undertaking to gauge whether claimants are actually due compensation are taking too long," said Mr Morgan.

"That is certainly backed up by the answers I have received.

"Many of the men claiming compensation are obviously very ill and are being put through stringent tests which many feel are unnecessary."

Death certificate

The MP also said he wanted the government to end the system where widows and dependants of the miners are given compensation if a lung disease is named as a cause of death on the death certificate much faster than if the men were alive.

"Unbelievably that means that compensation could well be paid quicker if you die.

"If that doesn't underline the appalling way the government is handling the compensation claim process, nothing does," said Mr Morgan.

"If a death certificate signed by a GP can be used to assess claims, why can't existing GP records be used to assess claims as the SNP suggested last year?"

Only 341 miners have been compensated

Mr Morgan, whose constituency covers the ex-mining communities of Sanquhar and Kirkconnel, received the answers after tabling parliamentary questions in the House of Commons.

"People are literally dying whilst the government puts tests in the way of compensating men who only want redress for the ill-health which has resulted from a lifetime breathing in coal dust whilst working for British Coal," he said.

Earlier this year, energy minister Helen Liddell pledged a speed up in compensation payments but she warned it could still take "two to three years".

Over 82,000 claims for compensation have been filed throughout the UK since an historic legal case began in 1991 to secure payouts for British Coal pitmen who developed emphysema and chronic bronchitis through working underground.

A compensation scheme was agreed last September for the biggest ever personal injury action in the UK.