Judgment is being given today in a High Court test case involving people suffering from the asbestos-related disease pleural plaques.

A judge, sitting in Newcastle, is announcing his findings in a damages action brought by 10 men who contracted pleural plaques - internal scars in the linings of the lungs caused by asbestos exposure.

Insurance companies are trying to block those with the condition from claiming compensation.

Those seeking damages say that although the plaques themselves rarely affect daily life, they cause anxiety for patients who know they have been exposed to asbestos and could therefore contract more serious diseases in the future, such as mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of the lining of the lungs.

But insurance firms, which pay out millions each year to pleural plaque sufferers, claim that the plaques are not injuries and that compensation should be stopped.

If the judge, Mr Justice Holland, rules in favour of the insurers, payments to people with pleural plaques could be stopped forever.

For the past 20 years people with pleural plaques have successfully brought cases for ''provisional'' damages, which allows them to return to court for further compensation if they develop a more serious disease in the future.

Frank Burton QC, for the claimants, told the judge during the hearing of the case last year that pleural plaques were ''a marker of asbestos exposure'' and ''set time running'' for sufferers.

Typical awards for pleural plaques are £5,000, with the right to return to court if more serious asbestos-related illness occurs, or £10,000 on a full and final basis.

The insurance companies argue that because plaques only occasionally cause breathlessness or pain, and because anxiety stems from exposure to asbestos and not the plaques themselves, compensation should be halted.

If the case goes against them, they say claims for compensation could run into billions of pounds..