PAT Daglish admits bluntly that she is getting tired of fighting her late father's cause.

But she says: "I can't let my dad down - he told me to keep fighting after he was gone. It is no longer about money now, it is the principle. Even if he had lived, dad knew the money would never buy him a pair of lungs."

Ms Daglish's father, Thomas, worked for more than 20 years at the Kibblesworth and Burnhope pits. His mining career started at the age of 14, but was halted by the Second World War when he served in the RAF.

However, he continued working at the coal face up until the early Sixties when a condition of coal-dust pneumoconiosis forced him to be pensioned off.

He was then told he could only do light work and took a job as a cashier with Derwentside council until his retirement in 1985.

Six years later, the years of damage that had wrecked his lungs resulted in him being diagnosed with chronic bronchitis and emphysema. He was given six months to live. But he lived for another eight years, albeit with little quality of life.

Ms Daglish said: "He needed 24-hour-a-day care and oxygen around the clock.

"He could not do anything, by walking two or three steps, he was totally breathless. For eight years he lived in his living room because he could not get upstairs."

Mr Daglish, whose wife Mary died in 1994, submitted his compensation claim two and-a-half years ago, but it was only last October when he received an initial assessment of his lung disease, a so-called spiromentry test. He had been paid an interim payment of £2,000 by those handling his claim, but like many miners was owed perhaps 20 or 30 times that.

Two months later, he died as a result of pneumonia, a by-product of his lung disease. His death was officially recorded as 'industrial disease.'

Ms Daglish said: "It is absolutely pathetic that all these men are dying. Like other people the authorities had all my father's records and we filled in lots of forms. Just this morning I received a 30-page form asking the same questions asked of my father before he died."

Ms Daglish's solicitor Philip Thompson said: "It is very frustrating for us and the clients. British Coal has prioritised claims where people are elderly and still alive. Widows are the next priority."

He said: "Unfortunately, someone in Ms Daglish's position acting on behalf of a complainant may have to wait a while longer.