A RETIRED fitter diagnosed with the fatal asbestos-related disease mesothelioma has been awarded a six-figure compensation settlement from his former employer.

Maurice Gardner, 75, was employed at the BRB Residuary Limited workshops, in North Road, Darlington, as an apprentice fitter from 1948 to 1953. He then spent three years on National Service, before he returned to work as a fitter until 1963.

He was exposed to asbestos fibres throughout his employment and was diagnosed with mesothelioma on January 21, this year.

Mr Gardner, from Darlington, instructed lawyers from Irwin Mitchell to represent him in a legal claim against his former employers, who admitted liability for his condition and agreed an out-ofcourt settlement worth £156,000.

Solicitor Neil Wilkinson, of Irwin Mitchell, said: “The levels of asbestos to which Mr Gardner was exposed to were comparatively high. He was working daily with asbestos lagging around engine boilers.

He had to brush away asbestos dust, and was present when holes were drilled in the asbestos sheeting to attach other parts.

“This was done with hand tools and the lagging was in poor condition. It is hardly surprising that this has had such an adverse effect on his health.

“It should be remembered that there was recognition of the dangers of asbestos from early in the 20th Century.”

Last month, two families from the North-East were each awarded more than £100,000 in compensation after former employees of a defunct Hartlepool shipbuilding firm contracted an asbestos- related disease.

In September, industrial disease lawyer Roger Maddocks, from Irwin Mitchell, called for potentially deadly asbestos to be removed from every school in the region within two years.

The call followed the death of 28-year-old Leigh Carlisle, from Oldham, Lancashire, who is believed to be the youngest person to die from mesothelioma.

Her family suspect she was exposed to asbestos while at primary school.