Maidstone widow seeks information and compensation over husband's asbestos cancer

The family of a man who died from asbestos-induced cancer are to take legal action against the company he worked for 40 years ago.

John Willson, from Maidstone, Kent died last year, aged 65, from mesothelioma. He worked for the South Eastern Gas Board (SEGB) in the 1960s as a driver, where he had to move dismantled gas appliances containing asbestos.

Solicitors for the family are seeking other former SEGB employees in order to confirm working practices at that time.

The coroner at Mr Willson's inquest confirmed he had died from an industrial death and said he should have lived for at least another 18 years.

His wife Maureen has appealed for other previous employees of the company to come forward: "I want the other men out there who worked in the 1960s to have more help than we have had, and I'd like someone to own up and say they were responsible for John dying. He worked and he handled asbestos - so someone, somewhere is responsible for it," she said.

The solicitor acting for the family, Alan Care, of Thomson Snell & Passmore, said: "It's very important that we establish what work practices were back in the 1960s."

National Grid, formerly Transco, said it was not aware of the case but it has promised to look at any claims that are made.

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