The UK energy minister has apologised to ex-miners for the length of time it has taken to award them compensation for work-related illnesses.

Brian Wilson announced that �1bn has now been paid out under the miners' health compensation schemes.

The schemes were negotiated between the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and representatives of miners' solicitors after British Coal was found liable for their conditions.

The minister said the payouts illustrated that the UK Government accepted responsibility for former miners whose health had suffered.

He said the Tories had ignored the plight of ex-miners for 20 years.

Brian Wilson: "Maintain momentum"

Miners claimed it had been known for decades that dust produced in the coal mining process could cause lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Many of them started working underground at the age of 14 in the 1950s, when there were no dust masks and few showers at collieries.

Six test cases successfully opened the floodgates for others to make claims.

Mr Wilson said over 200,000 claims have been registered with the government under the lung disease scheme - with 800 new claims being made each week.

'Hard cash'

The DTI is running two major compensation schemes for miners suffering from lung diseases and the disease Vibration White Finger (VWF).

Mr Wilson said miners had suffered for many years before the scheme came into effect because successive Tory governments failed to address the issue.

"The complexity of the court rulings on which the schemes are based meant that there were long negotiations with solicitors representing the claimants before the compensation payments could flow freely," he said.

'Clear targets'

"However, I hope that this landmark announcement today of �1bn paid out in hard cash will demonstrate both our determination to meet this commitment and also the progress that has been made in recent months."

The minister said that more than half of the �1bn had been paid out since the beginning of the year.

He added: "I have set clear targets for the number of full and final offers to be made by the end of the year and I have every intention of maintaining the momentum that has now been established.

"There have never been compensation schemes against a single employer anywhere in the world which have involved so many claimants, and such levels of human resource and money."