Personal injury news

Campaigners push for asbestosis memorial

Londoners campaigning for a permanent memorial to the victims of asbestosis have moved a step closer to securing their dream after a public petition was launched.

Over a hundred people signed the petition in under two hours as volunteers from the Barking and Dagenham Asbestos Victims' Support Group (BAD Asbestos) set up a stand in Barking town centre.

The group are calling for a memorial to be built to honour the countless people who have died from industrial diseases caused by exposure to the deadly dust. The Barking and Dagenham area actually has one of the highest rates of asbestos-related diseases in Britain, mainly due to the large number of people who worked at the old Cape Asbestos Factory that once stood in Barking.

Among those who signed the petition was 59-year-old Caroline Mitchell, who told local reporters, "My uncle was a lagger and he died of asbestosis. I used to work in North Street, and I would walk past the Cape Factory.

"If it was windy I used to get covered with asbestos, with all the white dust all over my jacket. I remember it as though it was yesterday."