ANOTHER battle is being launched to get justice for Gwent miners - and your Argus is backing it.

Around 5,000 former pitmen in Gwent were left with crippling knee problems after years of working underground, crouching to cut coal at the cramped faces.

That legacy has meant many are unable to walk properly without excruciating pain because of severe arthritis.

Nacods South Wales, the union which successfully fought for compensation for miners with chest illnesses, is now starting a test case claiming compensation for miners with crippled knees.

And the Argus, which has fought for the past six years to speed up the payout process to pitmen left with debilitating chest diseases, and their families, is backing the latest Nacods campaign.

Nacods general secretary Bleddyn Hancock says the union has issued court proceedings in Leeds against the Department of Trade and Industry. Mr Hancock said: "The prolonged kneeling, crouching and squatting in coal pits that many miners had to endure has led to thousands suffering from serious knee injuries, and is the cause of chronic and debilitating conditions like osteoarthritis."

He said he wanted other trade unions which represented miners to join Nacods' fight.

A spokesman for the DTI said: "We haven't seen the court papers yet and we will need to study these before making a judgement on what course to take."

One ex-miner who claims he has been left crippled by his years underground is 81-year-old William Batt.

Mr Batt, from Ebbw Street, Risca, was a miner for 39 years. He now relies on a Zimmer frame or crutches to move around because of severe arthritis in his knees.

"Even if you wore knee pads, they slipped to the back of the knees," he said.

"If you tried to walk in them they were really tight and stopped you from moving properly.

"If you got grit in them it was worse than kneeling on the ground." Mr Batt worked in Risca, Wyllie and Celynen South pits, and did everything from working at the coal face to working as an electrician.

While kneeling in cramped tunnels for hours at a time, he says his knees used to seize up and become swollen with what miners called "beat knee".

But he says this did not prepare him for the pain he now suffers. "They have got progressively worse, but now I am incapacitated by them," he said. "Since last April I have been unable to walk properly."