A victim of the York Carriageworks asbestos timebomb is to receive substantial damages.

Charles Sanders pictured last year

Former coachbuilder Charles Sanders, 88, suffers constant breathlessness and is dependent on oxygen after developing asbestosis. The condition - fibrous tissue in the lung - was caused by exposure to asbestos dust many years ago at the factory in Holgate Road, where he worked for 47 years until his retirement in 1976.

Now the British Railways Board, who has legal responsibility for the carriageworks, has agreed to settle out-of-court, says Ian Pryer, of York solicitors Langleys.

The pay-out will ease the strain for Christine Watson of caring for her father and also for her mother, Rhoda, who has dementia. She has had little break over the past couple of years from the 24-hour task of looking after them at her York home.

"I haven't had a holiday for three years," she said. "It's been a nightmare really."

The money means she can pay for as much professional help as she needs, for example extra assistance in getting her father into bed at night.

But she should also get more opportunity to get out of the home to do the ordinary things others take for granted, such as going to the shops, dentist or out for lunch.

However, Mrs Watson is determined her father will not go into a home. "I won't put him in a home. I made a promise and I must keep it."

Mr Sanders is only one of scores of former carriageworks employees who have suffered asbestos-related diseases over the past two decades, caused by inhaling dust from materials used in the construction and stripping of railway carriages.

"My father used to be such an active man. He kept an allotment, and used to go walking and ballroom dancing. And he always liked to help - he hoped to help in my garden." She said he had been depressed, and the family had worried he might be suicidal, but his condition had improved greatly after being prescribed Prozac.

Mr Pryer said: "We are pleased we have been able to achieve a settlement in such a short space of time, bearing in mind Mr Sanders' continuing deterioration."

A British Railways Board spokesman was unavailable for comment today, but he said last year that the claim would be dealt with expeditiously, and he had every sympathy with people involved in such tragic cases.

mike.laycock@ycp.co.uk

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