Ref. 19545-17FIRST it was hearing problems caused by working in noisy areas.

Now lawyers have revealed for the first time that many former workers at Swindon Pressings were also exposed to asbestos and have developed lung conditions as a result.

Solicitors are already dealing with ten compensation claims from ex-workers who have asbestos-related illnesses and say the situation is a timebomb.

They say Swindon Pressings did not provide workers with protection against asbestos until the 1970s even though the dangers of working with or near to the substance were known since 1931.

Now ten former Swindon workers are suing the company for damages one has the terminal lung cancer mesothelioma and nine have pleural plaques, a thickening of the lining of the lungs which is not harmful in itself but means that the patient has been exposed to asbestos so could develop mesothelioma.

And Peter Lodge, of BPE Solicitors in Cheltenham, who is handling the claims, believes they are the first of many.

He said: "It can take from 20 to 50 years to develop symptoms of an illness after being exposed to asbestos.

"Over the next 15 years I believe we are going to see more and more people with conditions of this sort. It really is a timebomb waiting to explode.

"It is estimated that one per cent of the population born in the 1940s will develop and possibly die from an asbestos condition.

"Many thousands of people worked in Swindon Pressings between 1955, when it opened, and the 1970s."

As with other factories across the country, asbestos was used widely in the Swindon Pressings building.

Mr Lodge said: "Asbestos was used widely throughout the plant. It was used as insulation on the pipe lagging which ran throughout the factory and there was also asbestos in the roof.

"Protection was provided from at least the 1970s but that was too late for people who had been working there since the 1950s.

"Obviously anyone who develops an asbestos-related condition would feel devastated and bitter that they were never informed of the dangers of working with or near to asbestos."

Swindon Pressings has been owned by a number of different companies, including Pressed Steel Fisher and the Rover Group since it opened in 1955.

Its current owner BMW bought the plant in 1994.

A BMW spokeswoman said: "These claims relate to former workers who were employed by previous owners of the business.

"BMW group is working as hard as it can to put claimants in touch quickly with the correct historical insurers."

Swindon Pressings is also being sued for damages by over 100 former workers who have hearing problems as a result of not having been provided with ear protection in noisy areas until the early 1990s.

Many have developed tinnitus because they were not given ear protection at the time.

Diana Milne