Administrators have moved into a north-west firm that built a reputation for mopping up mistakes made by solicitors representing mine workers.

A notice in the London Gazette confirms the appointment of administrators at Oldham-based Mellor Hargreaves Solicitors. Julien Irving and John Titley, both of Manchester firm Leonard Curtis Recovery, were appointed as administrators last Friday.

The Law Society Gazette has been contacted by one creditor within the legal profession who is owed almost £40,000. He claims not to have been told that the firm had entered a partnership voluntary arrangement last summer, saying the fact emerged only when he tried to call in the repayment in late 2016.

It is understood the firm’s case files have been transferred to three firms all based in the north of England.

Mellor Hargreaves had been at the forefront of efforts to secure more compensation for injured miners suffering from the condition known as vibration white finger. At the start of this year, the firm launched its own campaign to alert those affected they could have been short changed by their previous representative and stood to receive up to £25,000 more.

In 2010, Mellor Hargreaves filed claims against 11 law firms for undersettlement, and it secured a negligence finding against one firm, Yorkshire outfit Raleys, at Leeds County Court in 2013. Raleys itself entered administration in March 2016.

Mellor Hargreaves was established in Oldham in 1989 and specialised in a range of personal injury claims.

According to accounts filed with Companies House, the firm had assets of £616,000 as at 30 April 2016, compared with £755,000 a year before.

The Mellor Hargreaves website is currently disabled and the firm has not responded to the Gazette’s request for a full comment.