TIME is running out for miners in the Huddersfield area to claim compensation for industrial diseases.
The Government has set a deadline of March 31 for claims made under the Coal Health Compensation Scheme.
The Department of Trade and Industry has already issued about 300,000 payments - at a cost of £1.8bn - to miners suffering from work-related conditions, such as bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
More than 141,500 claims have come from Yorkshire.
But a partner of Leeds-based law firm Morrish & Co, which has handled many of the claims, said he believed there were many more potential claimants who had not come forward.
Jamie Hanley added that many more widows and families could receive damages through a posthumous claim.
He said: "Anyone who believes they are entitled to claim, even if their husband or father has already lost their life to a coal- related illness, should do so before the deadline.
"Up until March 31, the DTI will pay the full cost of any legal proceedings for successful claimants."
Mr Hanley also warned that the DTI provided payment to firms making a successful claim, yet some firms were also charging clients.
