Up to 30,000 former miners and their families who are still waiting for industrial injury compensation will be paid by the summer, the UK Government has pledged.

Energy Minister Brian Wilson said he would do everything in his power to ensure the process was completed within the next six months.

Mr Wilson, who was speaking on the fifth anniversary of a landmark ruling which guaranteed the compensation, said that by last December an estimated 15,000 claimants in Wales had been paid a total of �250m.

It's too late for me now, because Bill isn't here to share it with me Widow Beryl Morgan

The minister told BBC Radio Wales he shared the frustration of miners and their relatives who were still waiting five years after claims were submitted for Vibration White Finger (for heavy machinery operators) and pneumoconiosis - the build up of coal dust in the lungs.

"Every sinew in my being wants to put money in the hands of miners and their widows," said Mr Wilson.

"This is one of the most harrowing things I have every been involved in.

"I am acutely aware of the race against time, acutely aware of the suffering and contribution these people have made to the nation and acutely aware of their absolute right to have these payments as soon as possible."

Mr Wilson said every effort was being made by 1,000 government staff to process claims.

"All I can do is remove obstacles to get these payments out."

The compensation claim has become the biggest in British legal history but many ex-miners have died before receiving any money.

Last month, the UK Government said that its target of making full and final compensation offers to 15,000 former miners suffering from lung disease would be met by Christmas.

Widow Beryl Morgan, whose husband Bill died from a chest disease after 45 years in the mines, is among those still waiting.

Mr Morgan died in September 2002 without receiving any money in compensation. Mrs Morgan said: "I would liked to have seen his face when he opened the cheque.

"It's too late for me now, because Bill isn't here to share it with me."

She added that her husband's condition had affected the final years of his life.

"He didn't want to go anywhere, he just sat in the chair," she said.

Roger Williams MP has 900 cases in his constituency

"There was no life in him - it was horrendous."

Brecon and Radnor MP Roger Williams said that half the ex-miners in his constituency who had applied for compensation had died before receiving it.

He said: "In Brecon and Radnorshire we have 900 applications.

"Half those miners have died unfortunately."

The Department of Trade and Industry says most claimants have received interim payments and �170m has been paid out so far in Wales, but the process has been hampered by inadequate medical records from the pits.

It was announced in September that the total amount of compensation for respiratory disease and Vibration White Finger (VWF) had topped �1bn across the UK.