THE Argus three-year campaign to bring justice to the miners of Gwent is finally paying off.

Because with only a few weeks left, the Department of Trade and Industry says it is on course to fulfill energy minister Brian Wilson's pledge that 15,000 former Welsh miners will get their chest disease compensation by the end of this year.

And one of the miners is Gwyn Jones, 73, of Blaenavon, pictured, who received a settlement of thousands of pounds last week.

Mr Jones said: "I've waited five years for this. I'm over the moon."

Mr Wilson made the promise to Argus readers last year - and that followed more than two years of our campaigning to speed up the payout process and get former pitmen their compensation.

Our petition calling for every former miner with a valid claim, or their families, to be given a £10,000 and the paperwork to be sorted out afterwards attracted more than 25,000 signatures.

We have tackled successive energy ministers, and even the prime minister, about the problems with the system - and held them to account when they made promises.

Last night, a DTI spokesman told us: "We are on target.

"Our figures up until November show that 12,528 claims have been settled, we have another month's worth of figures due out today, and then another month's figures after that.

"I have spoken to officials, and they are confident that they will meet that target."

Islwyn MP and Wales Office minister Don Touhig, who sits on the Welsh monitoring group, said last night: "I am very pleased. The Welsh monitoring group has pushed hard on this and kept the pressure up on IRISC (the claims handlers) and the DTI to meet the target.

"There are still problems, but at least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. The Argus campaign has kept the matter in the public eye and kept pressure on politicians. It is so important that we continue to seek justice for the miners and ensure they get their compensation."