THE North-East will be targeted in an historic legal action aimed at recovering millions of pounds in fees paid by sick miners to to solicitors and claims handlers.

Set to be lodged in the High Court, the group action is being brought on behalf of a group of former pitmen who were charged as a result of successful claims made under the Government's £2.6bn compensation scheme.

The Department of Trade and Industry covered all legal expenses, but many miners unwittingly fell victim to solicitors' firms and claims-handlers who took a percentage of their payout - anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds.

Notification of the impending action has been sent to Doncaster solicitors Beresfords, Sheffield solicitors AMS Law, Moss Solicitors, of Loughborough, the Union of Democratic Miners and its subsidiary claims company Vendside.

Mark Farrell, managing director of Beresfords, which earned £890,000 from miners by charging a success fee for every coal health claim it settled before 2002, said that all but £32,000 had already been repaid as a goodwill gesture.

Meanwhile, The Northern Echo has been told that at least one North-East solicitors' firm is likely to be added to the list while more test cases in the form of individual claimants could be drawn from the region.

Green Wood and McLean, a London law firm which has been instructed to begin legal proceedings, wants all ex-miners who unnecessarily paid fees as part of a successful claim for lung disease or Vibration White Finger to join the action.

Senior partner Wynne Edwards said millions of pounds had been paid out unnecessarily.

Asked how many claims were likely to be looked at during the course of the action, he said: "It is likely to be thousands."

The Government has previously put pressure on a number of solicitors and claims handlers involved in double- charging claimants to pay back the money they took.

It now plans to introduce a regulatory body to oversee the claims-handling sector.

The Law Society also undertook its own investigation into a number of complaints that were made, threatening to strike off firms who were guilty of misconduct.

North Durham MP Kevan Jones has successfully pursued a number of complaints on behalf of constituents who were overcharged.

He said: "There is no excuses or justification for taking money from anyone's compensation."