A LAWYER acting for families of Shoreham Airshow disaster victims has said it is a “mystery” why they have not yet been granted legal aid to pay for representation during court proceedings.

Prime Minister Theresa May pledged on Wednesday to ask the Lord Chancellor David Lidington to look at their case after an MP told the House of Commons an application made to the Legal Aid Agency for exceptional case funding had been rejected.

It means the families have no financial support to cover costs incurred by legal representation during the inquest into the deaths of eleven men after a vintage Hawker Hunter jet crashed onto the A27 during an airshow display on August 22, 2015.

James Healy Pratt, the head of aviation at firm Stewarts Law, is representing the majority of the families and said he has been working pro bono.

He said: “It’s a mystery to me why eleven innocent families are not being provided the fair and proper funding support they deserve so they can play their important part in getting to the truth of what happened at the inquest.

“I’m pleased the Prime Minister is personally intervening with the Lord Chancellor.”

The legal aid application - made on behalf of all the families - proposed one lawyer represent them all at coroners’ court proceedings in a bid to keep costs to a minimum. Relatives of the victims said they wrote to their MPs when they were told the request had been refused.

Leslye Polito, 63, of Goring, lost her 23-year-old son Daniele in the crash.

She said: “It’s disgraceful. We shouldn’t even have to be thinking about costs. We are innocent parties. We are hopeful the pressure from MPs will get something sorted.”

Edwina Abrahams, the widow of 76-year-old wedding chauffeur Maurice, who also died in the tragedy, said she felt let down by the decision, adding: “We made the application because we can’t afford legal representation.”

Mrs Abrahams accused the authorities of “kicking their heels” over the case, adding: “As I have said before, this should all have been dealt with a year ago.”

Lloyd Russell Moyle, Labour MP for the Brighton Kemptown in which some of the victims’ families live, said he was “very disappointed”. He added: “Frankly it’s not good enough to deny victims and victims’ families access to something which is a right - justice.”