IN view of the damning conclusions of last month’s independent report into the Hillsborough disaster, there should be no doubt that fresh inquests need to be held into the deaths of the 96 Liverpool supporters who were killed.

It took 23 years of campaigning to expose the shocking cover-up surrounding the tragedy at Sheffield Wednesday’s stadium on April 15, 1989, and it is a scandal that it took so long for the victims and their families to be vindicated.

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, yesterday announced he was taking the exceptional course of applying to quash the original accidental death verdicts, even though he has yet to complete his review.

We welcome his determination to speed up the legal process because an exceptional set of circumstances demands exceptional action.

The families have suffered for long enough and further delays have to be avoided. Mr Grieve has already seen enough.

With so much new evidence now available, pointing to catastrophic failures by the emergency services, it would be unthinkable to allow the original verdicts to stand.

The families have waited more than two decades for the record to be set straight. Fresh inquests, with verdicts which reflect the truth, are part of that long road towards justice.

All that will then remain is for those who were guilty of being part of the shameful Hillsborough coverup to be brought before the criminal courts.