THE family of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan has called a £50k award from the London Mayor’s office a “paltry” gesture given the suffering and expense it has gone through.

The Morgan family has campaigned ceaselessly for justice since Daniel – from just outside Hay-on-Wye – was found with an axe in his head in a London pub carpark in 1987.

And the grant, announced last week by Boris Johnson’s office, was intended to recognise the contribution made by the family in bringing matters of police corruption to light.

A spokesman for the Mayor said: “The value of the Morgan family’s efforts has delivered broader social development to London.

“It highlighted past police failings and the need for police accountability to an extent would not have happened had they not undertake their tireless campaign.”

However with a stalling inquiry into the murder, Daniel’s brother Alastair – who has led the campaign – believes more could, and should, have been done.

He said: “It’s a paltry contribution to the suffering we’ve gone through.

“You can tell the truth for 20 years and it’s nothing.

“We got an apology - and this payment is some recognition – but for 27 years I have been trapped in this awful situation.

“We were hoping for more generosity.

“I have always considered that this is very much in the public interest – I wanted to do it because I want the public to know.”

Alastair, a successful interpreter in London, went part-time so he could campaign against corruption in the Metropolitan Police –corruption that he said included the cover-up of his brother’s killers.

He estimates that over 27 years the campaign has left him around £250,000 out of pocket, and still no one has been arrested for the murder.

However there had been recent signs of a breakthrough.

Last year the Home Office set up an inquiry into Mr Morgan’s murder after evidence in the Stephen Lawrence case brought to prominence the actions of certain Met officers in the 1980’s.

“The more we have found out the worse it gets,” said Alastair.

“The actions of police can tear apart family’s lives for a quarter of a century.

“Only in the last few years has the interference of the News Of The World and police-media corruption been pursued.”

The inquiry has since ground to a halt, added Alastair, with the chair stepping down due to health reasons in November, and the Home office and Morgan family yet to agree on a suitable replacement.

However, family members are now increasingly involved in the process.

And, with new support from the London Mayor, they appear to be less and less alone in their quest to seek out the truth behind one the capital’s grizzliest murders.