A former hospital cleaner who died of an asbestos-related cancer from breathing in dust has won a landmark victory against health chiefs.

Vanda Johansson-Corcoran, who worked at Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, was awarded a five-figure sum a month before she died aged 60 from mesothelioma.

But today, her grieving 55-year-old husband, David Corcoran condemned the decision by West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority (WYSHA) to take the case through the courts.

"Vanda was very nervous when she had to go to court and she was very ill. There was a lot of pressure. It would have been better if she hadn't had to do that.

"But she won and she didn't die in vain," said Mr Corcoran, of Leeds Road, Otley.

Mrs Johansson-Corcoran became ill in August last year having worked at the hospital between 1978 and 1981.

She took the civil action against the strategic health authority, which took over from the former Bradford Health Authority.

Paul Webber, of solicitors Irwin Mitchell, who acted on her behalf, described it as a landmark case.

The health authority claimed that although asbestos was known to be in the building, it was within the recommended safety limits, he said.

"So far as we are aware, it is the first time that an employee such as a cleaner, exposed to what were undoubtedly very small quantities of dust, has won a case in court," he said. "The importance is that others, who were similarly exposed to small quantities of dust after 1969, may now be able to pursue their case in circumstances where they might otherwise have given up."

A spokesman for WYSHA said: "The advice to the NHS was that the level of asbestos at Airedale General Hospital was extremely low and well below the guidelines set by Her Majesty's Factories Inspectorate at the time. We had not believed that the NHS had contributed in any way to the illness. However, the courts found we lacked duty of care."

Janet Crouch, deputy chief executive of Airedale NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said the case referred to asbestos levels in the boiler room more than 20 years ago. "Very low levels were recorded at this time, but this asbestos was removed in 1990,"she said.

Mrs Johansson-Corcoran, a grandmother of seven, died on October 30.