THERE was a mixed reaction to revelations yesterday that the government plans to put a deadline on new claims by ex-miners for chest disease compensation.

We reported yesterday, on the fifth anniversary of the landmark High Court ruling which allowed former miners and their families to claim, that the Department of Trade and Industry is planning to stop new claims in 2004.

But that proposal still has to be agreed by the High Court judge overseeing the handling agreement, Mr Justice Turner.

The Argus has campaigned for four years for the miners' compensation pay-out process to be speeded up. More than 25,000 people signed our petition calling for action.

Last night, a spokeswoman for energy minister, Brian Wilson, said that despite the deadline, the government wanted to give everyone with a claim time to apply.

She said: "We have not set a final date for applications. We have been in consultation with the lawyers representing the people affected and we are working towards a close. "We want to give potential claimants the time they need but there does have to be some limit.

"We acknowledge there has been a long wait for applications to be processed, but that has really improved recently and we are able to deal with an increase in claims."

Some fear that closing the scheme could lead to a flood of claims which could swamp an already overloaded system.

So far more than 210,000 claims have been registered and only 30 per cent of those have been paid.

The secretary of pit deputy's union NACODS, Bleddyn Hancock, (pictured) says there could be 500,000 claims. He was against stopping new claims.

"There will be lots and lots of publicity and then the system will be swamped. There are still a lot of people who do not realise that they have a claim," he added. He said solicitors and the government would be hard-pressed to deal with the influx.