A WIDOW who vowed to show up the devastating effects of asbestos exposure as she nursed her terminally ill husband is today celebrating securing a landmark £150,000 out-of-court settlement.

Mrs Anne Lewis embarked on her five-year campaign after the death of 61-year-old college lecturer James Lewis. She is convinced working alongside asbestos eventually killed him.

With financial backing from The Association of University Teachers, the pensioner took action against the London Imperial College of Science and Technology, where James was employed in the mechanical engineering department for 30 years.

He regularly worked in workshops where equipment was made from asbestos, although the college has always denied liability.

The couple were devastated when they were told Mr Lewis was suffering from an asbestos-related mesothelioma and could not be cured.

Speaking from her Darwen home, Mrs Lewis said: "When Jim took early retirement in 1989 it was with the intention of setting up a company and having the time to pursue the things he loved to do - travel, gourmet cookery, music and sport. "When he became breathless after we moved to Lancashire we put it down to a lack of exercise. Then his condition worsened and we were told he was terminally ill with no possibility of a cure. We were both horrified and astounded that exposure to asbestos some 30 years earlier could have given rise to this."

Her solicitor Pauline Chandler of Manchester-based firm Thompsons, added: "This was a very unusual case. I have specialised in lung disease work for over 20 years but this is the first case of its type I have come across.

"But I wonder how many other educational establishments have used asbestos products in their laboratories in the past, and how many students, let alone teachers, may have been put at risk as a result."

Mr Lewis explained that her husband was adamant that the case against the university be brought in an attempt to warn others of the dangers.

She added: On behalf of both of us I wish to thank all who helped him through this difficult period and who now may help others through increased public awareness."

David Triesman, general secretary of the AUT, has called for an immediate ban on the remaining legal use of asbestos as a result of the settlement.

He said: "With the continued existence of asbestos within educational establishments we must ask how many more staff and students have yet to develop disease. Proper steps to safeguard all personnel must be taken."

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