Ref. 28753-61A MAN who spent 44 years at the Railway Works has received £120,000 from British Rail after contracting the Swindon Disease.

Keith Freeman is the latest sufferer of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lung linings, to be awarded damages. In his case, it was an out-of-court settlement.

Mesothelioma is known as the Swindon Disease because so many Railway Works staff have contracted it after spending much of their working lives exposed to asbestos fibres.

Mr Freeman, a widower who lives in Jefferies Avenue with a son, John, 45, was diagnosed in December of 2002.

He was represented by Swindon solicitor Brigitte Chandler, of Charles Lucas and Marshall, one of the world's foremost experts on mesothelioma-related legal action.

Ms Chandler, who lectures widely and represents more than 100 sufferers as far afield as Canada, said: "Although nothing can restore his good health, Mr Freeman is very pleased with this settlement.

"In the light of his illness, he was particularly pleased to be able to settle matters prior to the trial and therefore did not have to attend court."

Mr Freeman, a father of three and grandfather of five, said he had nothing to add.

He had joined the Railway Works as an office boy, and his duties involved walking through workshops where asbestos was used.

Later, he worked in other parts of the complex where asbestos was used to cover heating pipes, and in Number Seven shop, where asbestos was sprayed as insulation on the inside of carriages. At no time was he given protective equipment.

Asbestos is a major cause of mesothelioma, with the fibres causing lung irritation that can manifest itself as cancer decades after the exposure.

Ms Chandler said Mr Freeman planned to use his award he was also reimbursed for court costs to cover the extra living costs caused by the disease.

Mr Freeman's case is the latest of many. Last November, widow Audrey Chapman, who used to live in Pinehurst Road, received almost £100,000, nearly three years after the death of her husband, William, who had been an apprentice fitter at the Railway Works and later a marine engineer. Both jobs involved exposure to asbestos.

In July last year, an inquest into the mesothelioma death of Geoffrey Dainton, 75, of Swindon, heard he had been exposed to asbestos while working 40 years ago at what is now Swindon Pressings but was then Pressed Steel.

Last year saw the opening of a Swindon Disease memorial garden in Queen's Park, whose £11,500 cost was paid by local people and organisations via an appeal in the Evening Advertiser.

Barrie Hudson