Victor's claim settled by firm (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Victor's claim settled by firm

Victor Day Picture Ref: 73249-22A SHRIVENHAM man exposed to asbestos at work is ready to shout from the rooftops after being given thousands of pounds in compensation.

Victor Day developed pleural plaques on his lungs after working stripping asbestos lagging from school boilers in Swindon.

Now the 72-year-old has been told he will get £6,500 plus legal costs after settling out of court with his former employer.

"You will probably hear the cheer in Swindon when I get the cheque through," said Mr Day, of Longcot Road, Shrivenham.

"Now that it is almost settled it is a relief because it is a worry. You don't know what is going to happen."

Pleural plaques is a benign condition caused by exposure to asbestos which leads to scarring to the lung lining.

Sufferers are at greater risk of developing asbestosis, lung cancer, pleural thickening or mesothelioma, for which there is no cure.

Mr Day worked for PG Hennion of Westmead Industrial Estate, Swindon, between 1960 and 1962.

Part of his role during that time was stripping asbestos lagging off school boilers.

To remove the asbestos he had to use hammers and chisels. During his work is likely that he would have been exposed to asbestos fibres. There were no windows or ventilation in the room and Mr Day was given no special clothing to wear or protective masks to protect him from the potentially lethal fibres.

He discovered two years ago that he had pleural plaques.

"It is always going to be at the back of your mind," said Mr Day, who is a former councillor and chairman of Swindon Magistrates Court. It is bound to be there."

But Mr Day and his wife Edna, 69, now intend to enjoy the compensation.

"We will probably have a holiday out of it," he said.

"My wife wants to go to Egypt and I wouldn't mind a trip round the Baltics.

"Otherwise we will put it in the bank and use it when we need it. We never go daft with our money,"

Brigitte Chandler, a solicitor with law firm Charles Lucas & Marshall and who specialises in industrial diseases cases, represented Mr Day.

"This has been a difficult case," she said.

"We brought it against the executors of Mr and Mrs Hennion who are now deceased and there was initially no insurance company to cover the claim.

"However we found a way to overcome these obstacles and reach a settlement.

"Asbestos was commonly used in lagging over boilers and pipes and I suspect there are a lot more people in the Swindon area who are affected."

Test case

EARLIER this year the High Court ruled that workers exposed to asbestos could continue to claim compensation for pleural plaques.

But suffers were told that the level of compensation they receive was likely to be halved following the test case.

The case was particularly relevant for Swindon as so many people have contracted asbestos-related diseases from working at the town's railway works.

Insurers, including Swindon employer Zurich, challenged the rights of pleural plaques sufferers to receive compensation, claiming the condition was not severe enough, despite three High Court rulings in the mid-1980s which found payment should be made to sufferers.

But Mr Justice Holland, sitting in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in February, ruled in favour of 10 claimants who come from around the country and worked in shipbuilding, factories, construction and boiler maintenance.

But he said that the level of compensation should be about half the figure awarded to previous claimants.

The case will go to the Court of Appeal later this year.

Isabel Field