FORMER pitmen who suffer from 'miners' knee' will soon be able to claim an industrial disability pension.
Many former underground workers have developed painful knee problems due to their work and because they regularly walked on uneven underground surfaces.
Following a lengthy campaign, the Department for Work and Pensions this week announced it would recognise miners' knee - officially known as osteoarthritis - as a prescribed disease and would pay sufferers a disablement pension.
The move will potentially mean thousands of miners will be eligible for the monthly payment - including many who worked the Barnsley coalfield.
Among them is Don Jagger who was a miner for almost 40 years and has been left with crippling pain in his knees.
He welcomed the scheme but said: "The tragedy is people have suffered for years and some of them have passed away but their wives and families know what they have been through."
Full story in this week's Chronicle.
