A WIDOW who emigrated to Australia more than 40 years ago, has won substantial damages from British Rail following the death of her husband from exposure to asbestos while working in Swindon.

Rosemary Panting, who emigrated with her husband, Christopher in 1963, brought the claim against British Rail after her husband died from mesothelioma cancer in 2002. She has now received £157,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

"Mrs Panting is very pleased with the result and also that it was settled out of court as otherwise she would have had to come to England to give evidence which would have been a very long journey for her," said Brigitte Chandler of Swindon solicitors, Charles Lucas and Marshall, who handled the case.

Mr Panting worked as a coach finisher for British Rail as its Swindon works from 1954 until he emigrated in 1963 the only period he was exposed to asbestos in his working life.

When he arrived in Australia he worked for many years as a carpenter.

Mesothelioma is a very aggressive cancer and there is currently no known cure.

It can take up to 50 years after the exposure to asbestos to develop.

The latest settlement means that, over the last six weeks, Ms Chandler has won claims totalling more than £750,000 on behalf of asbestos victims.

She is currently working with claimants based all over the world, including Canada, Thailand and Europe.

"These are all for people who were originally exposed to asbestos in England and then later in life developed asbestos disease," she said.

The British Lung Foundation plans to stage an inaugural event in early 2006 to raise awareness about mesothelioma.

Liz Darlison, of the National Macmillan Mesothelioma Resource Centre, said: "Around 1,800 people die from mesothelioma each year and it is predicted that this number will continue to increase until 2015 and yet the general public and many healthcare professionals are not aware of this disease."

Jamie Hill