A GREAT Harwood man who served 18 years in prison for a double murder he did not commit fears he could see his compensation cut by the government for the second time.

Peter Fell, 43, was released from prison five years ago after Appeal Court judges took just minutes to clear him of the crimes for which he was wrongly imprisoned in 1984.

Since his release Mr Fell, a born-again Christian who remarried after winning his freedom, has been fighting for compensation, and in 2004 was told part of any cash he was awarded would be taken away to pay for his board and lodging in prison.

Now he is waiting to see if the money will be reduced again, under new moves by the government to limit the amount of money handed out as part of compensation claims.

Mr Fell today slammed the plans, which he claimed were made without enough consultation.

He said: "They have already given me a legitimate expectation of what I am about to receive so I have planned everything around it.

"They gave me that figure last November and I am just waiting for them to get their maths right with the interest rates.

"The government hasn't spoken to anybody involved in miscarriages of justice, anybody in the Law Society, or anybody who supports people regarding miscarriages of justice. It reveals their incompetence yet again."

Mr Fell was cleared in March 2001 of the 1982 murders of Anne Lee and Margaret Johnson in Aldershot. Peter, whose mother Maureen lived in Accrington, was brought up at Blake Gardens Children's Hom, Great Harwood.

He attended Norden High School, Rishton, before joining the Army. He was living in Hampshire when he was arrested.

Mr Fell currently lives in the London area with his wife, Elaine. He has little contact with his family, and is out of work.

Last month Home Secretary Charles Clarke announced plans to limit compensation payments for wrongful convictions.

Currently, anyone sent to prison wrongly can claim compensation for loss of earnings but the new plans could see awards limited to £500,000, in line with the amounts paid out to victims of crime.

If Mr Fell had been in work, earning £28,000 a year for the years he spent in jail, he would have earned more than the £500,000 limit. At the moment Mr Fell does not know if his claim could be affected.

So far he has received interim amounts but is waiting for his final payout.

Today a spokesman for Innocent, a group set up to support victims of miscarriages of justice, said: "For people like Peter Fell who suffered for a very long time it seems very hard to cap any amount.

"It isn't just the victim, it's their families, their house, everything.

"It really is very bad and there is no adequate compensation for what someone like Peter has lost."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said: "He has been treated absolutely appallingly and this agony has to end at some point."