Campaigners in call for asbestos cancer money

there have been calls for a fund to be set up to help workers in the Capital suffering the after-effects of asbestos exposure.

The compensation fund was advocated by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, which said the number of people dying from mesothelioma in Edinburgh was on the rise.

It said the disease, a terminal cancer of the lung wall, was recorded as the underlying cause of 15 deaths in the Capital during 2010, compared with ten in 2006.

Association president David Bott said: “What people don’t realise is that hundreds of sufferers cannot get the compensation they need. What is needed is for the UK government to bring forward proposals for a fund of last resort which would act as a safety net for workers.”