BRITISH nuclear test veterans fighting a legal battle against the Government have made an official complaint after a defence minister misled Parliament about their court case.

The veterans were present when the UK tested atomic bombs in Australia and the South Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s and complain that exposure to radiation has damaged their health.

The Ministry of Defence has refused to take any responsibility for their illnesses and so veterans have taken the Government to court in a bid to win compensation.

The case is yet to come to full trial but last month defence minister Andrew Robathan incorrectly told Parliament that judges had ruled there was no link between the tests and the veterans' ill health.

He said on January 31 in the House of Commons: "I am afraid that the courts have found that there is no causal link whatever between many of the disabilities and illnesses suffered and exposure to any radiation."

The MoD has since admitted to the Derby Telegraph that the minister's statement was incorrect but so far Mr Robathan has refused to set the record straight in the Commons.

Veterans' representatives have now written to the Cabinet Office – which oversees ministers' professional conduct – arguing that Mr Robathan breached the ministerial code.

The code states that it is "of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity."

In their letter the veteran's representatives wrote: "Our concern and that of the 1,020 people whom we represent in proceedings, is that the minister has not given accurate and truthful information to Parliament. And he has not corrected his assertion, be it inadvertent or deliberate, at all and let alone at the earliest opportunity."

Derby North MP Chris Williamson also raised the issue in Parliament, arguing that Mr Robathan should confirm no decision had been taken on whether test radiation caused veterans' illnesses. He said: "The truth is that the courts have made no such finding and all attempts to get the minister to correct the record have so far proved unsuccessful."

As a result, some campaigners fear supporters may wrongly believe the case has been concluded, when, in fact, a crucial decision moving their argument forward is expected in April.

Under British legal rules of "limitation" a person wishing to sue for negligence must do so within a certain period of the negligence having taken place.

In the summer of 2009, the courts ruled that despite nuclear tests taking place decades ago, limitation rules should not bar veterans from bringing their case.

But the Government won an appeal against that decision at the end of last year. A final ruling on the issue is now expected from the Supreme Court in April.

A spokesman from the MoD admitted that information given by Mr Robathan to Parliament had been incorrect but argued that a media statement was sufficient to set the record straight without the minister having to do so in the Commons.

The Cabinet Office is looking at whether the ministerial code has been breached.

The Derby Telegraph has been running a campaign since 2009 in a bid to push the Government to compensate veterans. Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money has already been spent fighting the legal battle against former servicemen.