MINING families in Leigh are among hundreds to have benefited from the £1 billion that has been paid out under the miners' health compensation schemes.
Energy Minister Brian Wilson announced that the schemes, which compensate miners for damage done to their health through working in the coal industry, are the largest of their kind in the world.
He said: "This Government accepted its responsibilities towards former miners who had paid with their health for the nation's fuel. Sadly, many years had elapsed for many miners before these schemes came into effect."
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