A CAMPAIGNER for disabled rights who played a key role in securing double the compensation payments for Thalidomide victims said last night: "Justice has been done."

It is three years since North Yorkshire businessman Guy Tweedy started his campaign for improved compensation nationally.

Earlier, he played a prominent role in successfully getting Chancellor Gordon Brown to stop what was described as "an income tax grab" on payments to victims, which was as high as 34 per cent and looked likely to reach 40 per cent.

Drinks company Diageo announced this week that it would increase annual contributions to Thalidomide victims via the Thalidomide Trust from £2.8m to £6.5m.

Mr Tweedy, 43, himself a Thalidomide victim, said: "The campaign on removing tax and securing increased payments for the country's 431 victims has not been achieved by placard-waving or throwing things, but by presenting the case to the company for a fair and decent settlement.

"And we were very pleased that they listened to our case, which was presented without voices being raised."

Thalidomide was originally distributed in Britain under licence by the pharmaceutical subsidiary of the Distillers Company, which is now part of Diageo.

Mr Tweedy, from Harrogate, worked alongside Nick Dobrik, deputy chairman of the Thalidomide Trust's National Advisory Council, to secure the breakthrough.

"We explained the deteriorating health problem faced by victims when the two of us first met Diageo officials," said Mr Tweedy. "They were measured negotiations and we have secured corporate responsibility and moral obligations."

Payment will be index-linked and is a final settlement with no further claims considered after the end of December next year.

The Thalidomide Trust was set up in 1973, providing support for those affected by the drug.

The average payment from the trust to each beneficiary last year was about £13,000.