HE HELD out a message of hope for thousands of ex-Carriageworks employees at risk from York's asbestos timebomb.

Dougie Peacock climbed on his exercise bike in the summer to show Evening Press readers how radical surgery was helping him tackle the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

The 57-year-old, from Woodthorpe, who pedalled up to 10kms a day, was in remission and hoped to live on for many years to come.

But within weeks, his condition drastically deteriorated. He began having to fight for every breath, and he died last month.

His daughter, Karen, said today the family was mourning the passing of a "wonderful, kind, witty, loving family man."

She said: "All he ever did wrong was to try to provide for his wife and three daughters. We are now robbed of him, and our futures with him, and so are his four grandchildren.

"He was killed by asbestos, York's biggest scandal.

"Those in the know let him work, knowing the risks, knowing what the future might hold for him and many others like him. An absolutely terrible and disgusting secret."

But now Karen and her family want something positive to come out of Dougie's death.

They want to help set up a support group to assist those former carriageworks employees and their families who still have the asbestos tragedy ahead of them.

"Can we let the likes of Dad pass on, and sit by watching other families suffer as he, and his family did and still do?" she asked. "Can we not try to find a tiny shred of something good from his life and his untimely death at only 58?

"We need a support group and helpline setting up, to give support and advice for families. We can't bring loved ones back, but we can learn, and support those who have this ahead of them."

Karen said that she and her sisters, Debbie and Adele, and Dougie's wife, Rita, had not known where to turn in his final months. "It was awful. It was terrible for the family. It was so upsetting to see him like that," she said.

"If there could have been a helpline, a support group - people who knew what we were going through because they had been through this sort of thing themselves - it would have helped so much."

She believed her father's death was only the tip of the iceberg, and many more will need help in years to come.

"The men who worked alongside Dougie must always wait and wonde, and worry, and look out for the symptoms, living with fear," she said.

Karen said former carriageworks trades unionist Paul Cooper had devoted his life to helping those affected, and was an inspiration, but he could not do it all on his own.

Mr Cooper said: "I think it would be a good idea - it's been a long time coming."

He said he would be happy to help in the setting up of such a group.

Anyone interested in helping to set up a support group should phone Mike Laycock on 01904 567132, or email: mike.laycock@ycp.co.uk, or write to: Mike Laycock, Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York Y01 9YN.

Updated: 10:27 Monday, December 05, 2005