THE brother of a man who died from AIDS after being given contaminated blood products has said he has "never been so angry" after it was revealed the Government knew of the risks, but ruled against a ban.

David Fielding's brother Brian died in 1990 after he contracted the virus while being treated for haemophilia.

David, who also suffered from haemophilia, was infected with Hepatitis C after he too received the tainted blood in 1990.

His condition was diagnosed in 1998 when he was told he had just six months to live unless he received a liver transplant.

The new revelations concerning the blood came to light after the Guardian newspaper obtained minutes from a report produced by the Committee on Safety of Medicines, a government advisory group.

The report states that "patients who repeatedly receive blood clotting-factor concentrates appear to be at risk".

The revelations were contained in documents obtained by campaigners as part of the independent public inquiry into the tainted blood scandal, which Mr Fielding has already submitted evidence to.

Mr Fielding, aged 51, of Darley Avenue, Farnworth, said: "I'm more angry than I have ever been in my life. The more evidence that comes out, the more the jigsaw fits together.

"My brother's death was wholly avoidable and my family has been given a sentence without parole. There are so many people who have died because of this and there are so many more who are terminally ill."

Haemophilia is usually inherited and occurs when the blood cannot clot properly because it has low levels of clotting factors eight and nine, causing bruising and internal bleeding.

In the 1970s a method for replacing some of the missing factor was discovered. Plasma products were pooled from UK and US sources, but some came from paid American "Skid Row" donors who were more likely to be infected with HIV and Hepatitis C.

More than 1,500 people have died or are said to be terminally ill as a result of "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS". Mr Fielding, a married father-of-three, was cured of his liver disease and haemophilia by his transplant.

Successive governments have refused to stage an inquiry into the events.

Mr Fielding said: "The only way that thousands of people and their families will have any closure is if the government launches an inquiry."