MINE rescue veteran Peter Kenny is being made to wait for compensation for an industrial injury, because the Government will not believe he worked underground.

The 75-year-old spent 23 years on North Staffordshire's mines rescue team, becoming its longest serving member.

As a result he is now suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced in April that ex-miners with this condition, commonly known as 'miner's knee', would be entitled to Government help.

Mr Kenny put in a claim and was asked to provide proof that he actually worked underground.

But he was told the gold and silver long service medals he received from the mines rescue team would not be acceptable.

Mr Kenny, of Megacre, Wood Lane, said: "They said I'd need to provide evidence because my employer, the Coal Board, no longer existed.

"When I told them about my medals they said I could have got those while working on the surface. I'd never heard anything so ridiculous.

"It seems the person I was speaking to had no idea what we did.

"How could I work on a mines rescue team for 23 years and never go underground?"

The DWP also refused to accept as evidence the fact that Mr Kenny was already receiving a pension for nitrous fumes poisoning – another industrial injury associated with the cramped conditions down a mine.

He began receiving that pension following a near-fatal accident at Hem Heath Colliery in 1986, when was overcome by fumes while checking on underground charges.

But again, the DWP said this could have happened on the surface.

Mr Kenny, who also worked at Sneyd, Hanley and Wolstanton, is now having to supply the DWP with contact details for some of his former colleagues, who he hopes will be able to vouch for him.

But even this has proved problematic, because so many of those he worked with are now dead.

Mr Kenny's neighbour June Chadwick, who is helping him with the claim, believes the DWP is deliberately making it as hard as possible for ex-miners.

She said: "Because the money is paid out in the form of a pension, rather than a lump sum, the longer this goes on, the less they'll have to pay.

"One of the miners Peter was going to contact to help him prove his case died the other week, and he was only in his 60s.

"Peter's knees are getting worse. He has to use a walking stick and just the other day he fell down on a wall while walking back from the shops."

Following inquiries by The Sentinel, the DWP has got back in touch with Mr Kenny to assure him that it will accept the evidence of his former colleagues.

A spokesman said: "In order to be entitled to this benefit, customers must show evidence that they have worked underground in a coal mine for 10 years or more, before January 1, 1986. This follows the recommendation of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council.

"The department is working with the three major mining unions to ensure that customers properly complete their claim forms to accurately reflect their work underground."