An Internet website telling miners how to fool doctors and cash in on a multi-million-pound compensation scam has been closed down by the Government.

The 18-page website told callers how to fake and exaggerate symptoms of Vibration White Finger (VWF) - claims for which could cost Britain's taxpayers nearly £1 billion.

Police are also investigating the site, which gave instructions on "how to beat the tests" carried out by doctors at special centres in coalfields and former mining areas.

In the Selby pit complex more than 500 miners have submitted claims for VWF, although there is no suggestion that any of these are fraudulent.

The newly-diagnosed disease causes fingers to turn white and numb as a result of using hand-held vibrating tools such as pneumatic drills and jigger picks.

The rogue website gave details on how to convince doctors that the claimant was suffering from VWF. It told claimants to make sure their working history tallied with the period VWF was known to have been a problem in the coal industry between 1975 and 1990.

A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said today they took the matter very seriously, and had taken swift action to close the website down.

He said they were now considering what further steps could be taken against the individual responsible for the site.

The spokesman added: "We deplore the action of any individual or organisation who produces material which encourages others to exaggerate or falsify symptoms in order to gain financial benefit from the DTI's VWF compensation scheme.

"The department is keen to ensure that all genuine claims under the scheme are processed fairly and speedily."

To date about 116,000 claims have been registered, of which 19,000 have been settled at a cost of £131 million - an average of £7,000 a claim.

The DTI also alerted doctors at the VWF test centres amid fears that fraudulent claims could cost the taxpayer millions of pounds and jeopardise genuine compensation claims.

RJB Mining spokesman Stuart Oliver said: "We are very pleased the website has been closed down."

Ken Rowley, National Union of Mineworkers' secretary at Wistow Mine and a member of the union's national executive, said today that the Government should be concentrating on getting a faster system in place to deal with genuine claims.

He said: "Miners are dying before they get paid out because of delays, and ministers should be speeding up payments rather than complaining about alleged bogus claims."

Updated: 15:46 Tuesday, February 13, 2001