Chest problems plague thousands of men

The report said a total of �320m has been paid out under two schemes covering lung diseases and Vibration White Finger.

The figures were released to coincide with the third anniversary of a high court ruling paving the way for claims.

Campaigners for swifter compensation have said they are not impressed.

More than 27,000 claims have been lodged in Wales, but so far only 6,900 payments have been made, totalling �26.5m.

Of those, around 860 are full and final settlements.

The main stumbling block for those who have completed their medical tests is the issue of pensions.

John Hopkins - one of the many who died waiting

Miners whose working lives were cut short by chest disease have smaller pensions than they could otherwise expect.

The high court is due to rule in March on a formula to calculate that element of final compensation packages.

Statistics show that 40% of the 130,000 claims made by ex-miners were ineligible for payments because they suffered from different illnesses to those covered by the landmark court judgment.

Anniversary

Miners with lung diseases have so far received �108m, while those with VWF have been paid �212m.

"The third anniversary of the original court judgement is a timely reminder of the fact that this a complicated legal case," said Energy Minister Helen Liddell.

"We have come a fair way in three years, but we must keep driving things forward."

In a BBC interview, Ms Liddell reiterated her decision to compensate only those miners suffering from emphysema or chronic bronchitis - those lung diseases covered by the court judgment.

She said: "I think if we're in the business of paying out something like �2bn, some 40% of the 130,000 claims, that's a fairly substantial amount of money."

Andrew Tucker, representing the Claimants' Solicitors' Group said he was pleased that daily payments of compensation have reached �1m.

"However, the most important measure of the effectiveness of the compensation scheme is how quickly individual claims can be properly and fairly assessed," he said.