ANGER greeted an announcement that victims of an asbestos-linked condition will be denied compensation – because the Government ruled they were not genuinely ill.

A Law Lords ruling denying payouts to sufferers from “pleural plaques” – a scarring of the lungs that can trigger mesothelioma and lung cancer – will not be overturned, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said.

In a statement, Mr Straw said pleural plaques only very rarely give rise to physical symptoms, although he accepted they created an “understandable sense of anxiety”.

As a result, only the existing 6,000 sufferers, with claims lodged before the 2007 ruling, will receive “no fault”

payouts – and only of up to £5,000.

The construction workers’ union Ucatt accused the Government of abandoning sufferers, estimating that tens of thousands of workers will miss out on compensation – while those in Scotland receive it.

Alan Ritchie, the union’s general secretary, said: “The campaign must continue so that justice will be achieved in the future.”

The “ticking timebomb” of asbestos exposure is a key issue in the North-East and other areas with a history of heavy industry.

More than 2,000 workers died from mesothelioma over the 25 years to 2005.

The blackspots were South Tyneside (240 deaths), Hartlepool (97), Sunderland (288).

Stockton (154) and Redcar and Cleveland (108).

Among the many uses of asbestos was as insulation in ships – exposing workers during fitting out and ship breaking – with carpenters, joiners, plumbers and heating engineers also at particular risk.

The death toll is expected to rise sharply, peaking at up to 5,000 deaths every year across Britain by 2015, compared with 1,922 in 2003.

Ministers sought to sweeten yesterday’s bitter pill, by announcing a 40 per cent increase in lump sum payments for people who develop mesothelioma because they lived close to an asbestos factory, or washed their partner’s clothes.

Sufferers currently receive a minimum payment of £8,197, which will rise to £11,678 in April.

The maximum payment will increase from £52,772 to £75,176.

Two weeks ago, ministers pledged a £400m fund for dying victims of asbestos unable to trace their former employers – but it cannot be introduced until the next Parliament.