THIS is a region which should be proud of the generations of men who toiled down the pit - but ashamed of the conditions in which they were expected to work.

The miners were a tough breed who laid the foundations for this country's industrial strength in the days when coal was king.

Their job was highly dangerous then - and its legacy is just as deadly now.

The Government has promised justice for miners who suffered lung damage from their days in the dust and the darkness, and ministers have pledged to speed up the time it takes for the debt to be paid.

And yet it is taking too long - far too long.

As we report on our front page today, 111,560 claims for lung damage have been submitted since the Government's compensation deal was announced 16 months ago. Scandalously, only one case has been fully settled.

The Department of Trade and Industry admits it underestimated the scale of the problem. It was nave and over-optimistic.

But that is no consolation to men like 78-year-old Ben Aitken for whom breathing - something most of us take for granted - is a daily struggle. Mr Aitken, from Wheatley Hill, County Durham, is still waiting after two years for his claim to be settled.

For others it is too late - they have died waiting, and more will join the death toll unless there is a significant improvement in the way cases are assessed and dealt with.

The truly cynical might go as far as to suggest that it makes economic sense to string the claims out for as long as possible. The more time it takes, the fewer miners there will be left to pay.

We do not believe the Government would be so cruel. We prefer to suggest it is simply a case of civil servants being ill-equipped to drive through Government policies quickly enough.

Our front page underlines the tragic consequences of that failure and it has already been allowed to drag on for too long.

The Government - the country - has a moral responsibility to see that former miners robbed of their health are given justice.

We have to pay up - before what little breath they have left is gone.