Hundreds pay tribute to asbestos victims

Sourced from the Manchester Evening News:

Hundreds of relatives of tradesmen killed after handling asbestos have gathered in Manchester to mark their deaths.

Campaigners Vera Rigby and Lauren Ross released six white doves to remember lost loved ones.

Other families clutched pictures of husbands and brothers who all fell victim to mesothelioma – a cancer caused by the building material.

A total of more than 200 people were joined by three MPs in the commemoration, outside the town hall yesterday. (FRI)

Asbestos was commonly used in the construction of houses, offices and schools throughout the last century.

But its dangers were only slowly recognised as builders, joiners and electricians started to develop fatal lung diseases.

Although the material – traditionally used as insulation – was banned in Britain 11 years ago, the annual toll of asbestos-linked deaths is expected to keep rising until 2020.

Mrs Rigby, 65, lost husband Barrie, an electrical engineer employed in several of Oldham’s cotton mills during the sixties, five years ago.

The grandmother, from Grasscroft, Saddleworth, said: "He didn’t know anything about the dangers at the time.

"He later became a lecturer at college. If only he had known, he would have been able to warn the lads he was teaching to take care."

Fellow activist Mrs Ross nursed husband Frank, a shop fitter, through his illness. The dad-of-four died in February 2007, aged 60.

Mrs Ross, from Didsbury, said: "My daughter is training to be a teacher. Asbestos is still present in many buildings – and her brother is a joiner.

"There needs to be a greater awareness when repair works are taking place.

"There are dozens of garages where we live which are riddled with asbestos. Home owners need to be aware of this. They can’t just go knocking them down. The dust would go everywhere."

The event was attended by three MPs – Tony Lloyd, Jim Dobbin and Simon Danczuk.

Mr Danczuk, the newly-elected MP for Rochdale, warned of the ongoing risk at the former Turner Brothers asbestos weaving factory in Spodden Valley, which is earmarked for a housing development.

He said: "People have been campaigning for many years to make sure the land is not built on. It needs to be a green lung which represents all those who died of this terrible disease."

The event was organised by the Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group.

Nearly 100 people in the region were diagnosed with the illness last year.

Campaigners are targeting newly qualified tradesmen and construction workers, as well as DIY enthusiasts, warning that many buildings still contain significant amounts of asbestos.

Repeatedly breathing the asbestos fibres can cause fatal tumours in the lining of the lung.