A PENSIONER from Bradford who worked as a cleaner is appealing to former workmates for help after being diagnosed with terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

June Thomson, 77, from Eccleshill, has instructed specialist industrial illness lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate where she was exposed to harmful asbestos dust and to find out why she was not given adequate safety equipment to protect her from it.

Mrs Thomson was diagnosed with mesothelioma in September 2016. It is a cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and its debilitating symptoms can only be treated temporarily.

Now Mrs Thomson and her lawyers are searching for people she used to work with to help with their investigation.

They are hoping that any colleagues who worked with her at Industrial Contract Cleaners Ltd from 1969 might be able to shed more light on working conditions from that time.

The company was taken over by HAT Cleaning Services in 1977 and was then known as Initial Contract Services from 1987 onwards.

Nicola Handley, the lawyer representing Mrs Thomson, said: “While working for these companies, June was responsible for cleaning a number of factories and this is where exposure to asbestos was likely to have arisen.

“June recalled that many of these factories were very dusty, dirty environments with lots of debris.

“Some of these factories may have contained asbestos and she is calling for any employees to come forward.”

Mrs Thomson said: “It has been very difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that my illness was caused by exposure to asbestos decades ago, simply by going to work.

“I never thought that the work that I did for so many years would affect my life now.

“I really hope that former colleagues will now help the team at Irwin Mitchell to give any information about the conditions that I worked in so my family and I can get the justice that I deserve.”

Widow Mrs Thomson has five children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Her husband Alan died in 2004; she had been his carer.

Before being diagnosed with mesothelioma, she enjoyed going on holiday and travelling the world.

She has visited Canada, South Africa and Australia and had been hoping to go to Canada next month to see her son,but this may not be possible now.

Ms Handley said: “We believe that June was exposed to asbestos whilst working for Industrial Contract Cleaners.

“We are seeking to find answers for June in order to help her understand precisely how her exposure to asbestos arose.

June has provided a written statement dealing with where she worked whilst employed at Industrial Cleaning Contractors but we need information in relation to how she was exposed to asbestos.

“The dangers and risks from exposure to asbestos dust were known widely by companies from at least the 1950s.

“However, all too often we see workers and their families who have been left devastated decades later because they were not given the correct safety equipment to protect them from exposure.”

She can be contacted at Irwin Mitchell on 0113 220 6233 or at nicola.handley@irwinmitchell.com.

Currently around 2,500 people die from Mesothelioma every year in the UK and the number of people diagnosed is expected to increase.

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