Cape Asbestos pays compensation over dust death

A man who has died from lung cancer caused by asbestos has been awarded damages from the firm responsible for his exposure to it, a source reveals.

The family of George Dickerson have received an unspecified amount from Cape Asbestos after his trade union secured the payout, the Barking and Dagenham Post reports.

He played with the harmful dust as a child when it would blow out of the factory gates into a nearby school playground.

Over fifty years later, Mr Dickerson contracted mesothelioma and died shortly after diagnosis, the news provider reveals.

His widow, Shirley, claims he immediately identified the cause of his illness once he discovered he had contracted it and knew he had been exposed as a child.

She tells the source: "He wanted to make people aware about the factory's negligence and he wanted the owners to take responsibility."

Regional secretary for Unison, which secured the compensation for Mr Dickerson's family, says the company has now been held to account for its health and safety breaches.

Earlier this week, construction union Ucatt called for the sacking of a housing association manager shown refusing to provide protective masks for workers drilling asbestos on BBC documentary Inside Out.