LONDON, Jan 31, 2008 (AFP) - The British government said Thursday it had awarded damages and apologised to military veterans who say they were tricked into being human guinea pigs for chemical weapons trials during the Cold War.

Defence minister Derek Twigg told parliament in a written answer that the defence ministry had awarded three million pounds (four million euros, six million dollars) in compensation to 360 former service personnel.

The ministry had not admitted liability and the sum was a 'full and final settlement,' he added.

'The government accepts that there were aspects of the trials where there may have been shortcomings and, where, in particular, the life or health of participants may have been put at risk,' he said.

'The government sincerely apologises to those who may have been affected.'

Twigg said an 'amicable settlement' had been reached with victims of the trials, which took place at the government's military research facility at Porton Down in southwest England in the 1950s and 1960s.

The ex-servicemen, who say they have suffered ill-health as a result, claim they were told they were volunteering for cold remedy tests at the site, which conducts research into chemical and biological defence.

Twigg acknowledged the debt Britain owed to the men and said the trials 'were in many cases under considerable pressures of time as new threats emerged.'

In May 2006, the family of 20-year-old Royal Air Force engineer Ronald Maddison, who died when the nerve agent sarin was dropped on his arm at Porton Down in 1953, was awarded 100,000 pounds.

A coroner's inquest in November 2004 -- demanded by his family -- ruled he was unlawfully killed. A previous inquest held behind closed doors on national security grounds soon after his death gave a verdict of misadventure.

At least 20,000 service personnel took part in tests at the site between 1939 and 1989 although not all were exposed to chemical or nerve agents. Only Maddison is known to have died as a result.