The need to be seen to do something can be a dangerous urge - just ask the Department for Trade and Industry.

In issuing the names of 100 law firms removed from the list of approved practices for mining claims, it responded to concerns in Parliament and the media that some solicitors have overcharged for this work.

But it also failed to carry out some basic checks: according to the Law Society, at least 13 of the firms have ceased trading, two have been intervened in, and several others have incorrect names or addresses, which may be why they did not receive initial letters.

And all that before many of the firms proved that they should not have been on the blacklist in the first place.

So within a week the list has almost halved in size, and the odds have to be that further revisions will be made.

But for some, the damage has been done by the unfavourable publicity.

It is clear that a small minority of the 500-odd law firms involved in mining claims may have besmirched the reputation of the many by charging more than the industry agreement allowed.

In so far closing 98 of the 182 complaints received, the Law Society has recovered 13,863 for clients.

This is in the context of more than 800,000 claims made since 1999 and legal fees of around 140 million.

The apology received by York firm Ingrams should be just the first of many - perhaps another press release explaining what went wrong is in order too.