Families of victims of the human form of "mad cow disease" yesterday welcomed suggestions that the British government is to fund a multimillion-pound care and compensation package.
The deal could be announced on Thursday, publication day for Lord Phillips's long-awaited report on his inquiry into the BSE disaster. Whitehall sources told the Observer newspaper that although there were practical and legal difficulties to be ironed out the cabinet committee set up to deal with the Phillips report had agreed a no-fault scheme which will see victims' families paid hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Since 1985 about 83 people in the UK are thought to have contracted so-called variant CJD (Creutzfeldt Jakob disease), the human version of BSE, which is believed to be caused by eating infected meat.
The Department of Health was non-committal on the compensation issue, saying it could not comment before the report's publication. But Mr David Body, the lawyer representing the families, said: "It would be welcome if it's true.
"We have been urging the government not to put our clients through the legal process to get compensation, so the government would be doing the right thing," he said.
Mr Body suggested claims on behalf of the families of those who had died could fall between £75,000 to £250,000.