Asbestos widow awarded £180,000

A woman whose husband died from an asbestos-related cancer after working at a power station in Gloucester has been awarded £183,200 in compensation.

John Cuss, from Fairacres, Hereford, worked at Castlemead power station between 1961 and 1967 repairing pipes and pumps, many covered in asbestos.

In 2009, he was diagnosed with asbestosis which developed into lung cancer and he died in 2011 aged 73.

His former employer's successor, Magnox Limited, has accepted liability.

The solicitor for his widow, Janet, said Mr Cuss had been exposed to asbestos on a "daily basis when colleagues were knocking asbestos lagging off pipes" and been given no protective clothing.

Solicitor Brigitte Chandler said: "The air that he worked in was full of asbestos dust.

"There was a huge amount of asbestos lagged throughout the power station."

Magnox Limited has accepted liability and agreed to pay the family compensation for Mr Cuss's "pain and suffering".

In a statement, a spokesman for Magnox, said: "Castlemead power station was not owned or operated by Magnox Limited nor were Magnox Limited Mr Cuss's employer.

"However, we are the successor organisation to Mr Cuss's former employer, the Central Electricity Generating Board.

"We are saddened about the death of Mr Cuss and our thoughts are with his family."

All forms of asbestos were banned from use in the UK in 1999, after it became widely recognised as a serious health threat.

Once commonly used as a fire retardant in buildings, asbestos fibres can cause the fatal lung cancer mesothelioma, and the scarring of the lungs known as asbestosis.