A row has broken out between a Doncaster law firm and an MP after he alleged that it had deducted money in a mining compensation case to pay for a referral from a claims management company.

Some 38 MPs have signed an early day motion from Labour MP Michael Clapham which urged 'all solicitors like Frank Allen Pennington (FAP) who use claims handlers [to] reimburse clients the fee deducted from their compensation'.

It also called for more regulation of claims management companies.

FAP - which is on the government's list of recommended firms after it promised not to charge more than 1,800 per case - denies the allegation and has written to Mr Clapham complaining that the motion 'rested on a number of factual assumptions which are misleading and potentially damaging to this firm'.

Mr Clapham told the Gazette that he believed the firm had made deductions in one case.

The Law Society confirmed that it has received no complaints about FAP in relation to mining claims.

Paula Rohan