LIE detector tests were recommended for former miners when only 0.2 per cent of compensation claims were feared to be fraudalent, the Government has said.

The Northern Echo revealed last month that ministers were urged to introduce polygraph machines amid concerns that pit injuries were being faked.

The Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) has admitted that only 1,500 of 740,000 claims -0.2 per cent of the total -were thought suspicious.

And only one claimant was successfully prosecuted and jailed for fraud, with a further eight under consideration for referral to police.

Labour backbencher Mick Clapham, chairman of the coalfields communities group of MPs, said it was mind-boggling that lie detector tests were recommended, given the new information.

Mr Clapham said such a move would have been damaging to Labour in its heartlands had it been taken up by ministers.

The DTI said ministers never seriously considered introducing the tests, saying it was not unusual for civil servants to put such ideas forward.

But Mr Clapham said: "It is mind-boggling that it was ever even suggested when the amount of fraud among miners was so small."

Under the recommendation to Industry Minister Nigel Griffiths, tests were to be carried out on surviving miners and on witnesses.

Recognising the outcry the tests were likely to provoke, ministers were urged to keep them secret from claimants and their solicitors if possible.

According to written answers tabled by Mr Clapham, a tenth of claims for respiratory disease and 20 per cent for vibration white finger were dismissed after medical assessments.

The compensation scheme has been widely praised as the largest in history, delivering payouts totalling £2.3bn to 262,000 former miners and their families.

However, there has been anger over the size of the fees earned by many solicitors' firms, some of which were condemned as greedy by Mr Griffiths.

Ministers were also forced to backtrack over plans to impose some settlements, agreeing that all miners could be assessed by a chest specialist if they disagreed with an offer.

Mr Griffiths said there was no limit to the amount that can be paid out. With 480,000 outstanding claims, compensation is expected to top £8bn.

Read more about the Justice for the Miners campaign here.