SUFFERERS of asbestos-related diseases in Swindon may be unable to claim compensation if a group of major insurance companies succeed in a High Court action.

The firms will argue people with a condition called pleural plaques should receive no compensation because it does not amount to an injury.

Pleural plaques results from asbestos fibres entering the lung and calcifying. It could lead to fatal diseases such as mesothelioma dubbed the Swindon disease because of its prevalence among former railway workers.

Shirley Corbyn's father Donald Arman, had pleural plaques for which British Rail accepted liability for negligence and awarded him £4,500 damages in 1990.

He was given the right to make another claim, later in life if he developed mesothelioma, which he did.

If the test goes in favour of the insurers, it would absolve organisations responsible for exposing workers to asbestos of paying compensation.

Shirley, who is pursuing a claim on behalf of her 84-year-old mother Joyce, said: "I don't think this is very good.

"Families should get compensation. People like my father showed up for work in good faith. They didn't know asbestos was going to damage their health."

Dave Ashford, 58, of Park South, was diagnosed with pleural plaques in January. He was exposed to asbestos when he worked for Rover.

He said: "I think these companies are trying to get out of their obligations to their workforce.

"We were not given any information about the dangers we faced.

They ought to be brought into account."

Brigitte Chandler, of Swindon-based CLM, is a leading industrial disease lawyer.

She said: "What this case is about is powerful insurance companies trying to evade liabilities for which they have been paid premiums.

"Once pleural plaques show up in X-rays doctors usually advise patients that they are at risk of developing further asbestos disease, including asbestosis and fatal cancer.

"People become very frightened by this and there is considerable mental anguish as well as the physical implications."

"People with pleural plaques have been receiving compensation for the past 20 years."

She said sufferers could normally expect to be awarded compensation of £15,000 to £20,000 for pleural plaques.

An alternative provisional settlement gives their families the right to come back on their death when awards may be up in the hundreds of thousands to assist widows and children.

The case will be heard in the High Court in Manchester on November 8.

Bhavani Vadde