A cancer sufferer is claiming £100,000 from his old bosses, saying he was exposed to asbestos for eight years as an electrical fitter.

George Alexander, 71, expects to die within six months from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

He has filed a High Court writ claiming his work in maintaining boilers and pipework exposed him to asbestos used as insulation.

Inhaling a single fibre of the material can prove fatal.

Mr Alexander, of Langdale Road, Hove, claims the mesothelioma he developed later in life has cut his life expectancy by 12 years.

He is claiming damages from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, who he worked for between 1973 and 1981.

A writ issued by his solicitors, Simpson Millar, says he worked in a municipal laundry and swimming pool maintaining boilers and pipework.

Mr Alexander says the pipes were lagged with old, crumbling asbestos, which fell onto the floor where he worked and walked.

The writ claims he once disturbed asbestos lagging as part of work replacing an old boiler door.

In 1978 he says he worked near contractors as they replaced asbestos.

His solicitor, Helen England, told The Argus she hopes to reach a settlement with the London council by the end of the year.

She said: "He has got a very short life expectancy.

"He is clearly suffering a hell of a lot at the moment.

"It is really important that workers like Mr Alexander get compensation, for the time they have left and for the loved ones they leave behind."

If a settlement is not reached the case is due to come before a High Court judge in January.

Nearly two thousand people die of mesothelioma every year.

The deadly disease can be caused by inhaling just one fibre of asbestos, which was commonly used for insulation and fireproofing in many buildings.

Exposure to asbestos is often indicated by pleural plaques - scars on the lining of the lungs.

Though they are not cancerous, people with the plaques live with the knowledge they have been exposed and could develop mesothelioma in future.

Last month The Argus reported a ruling by the Law Lords that people suffering from pleural plaques are not entitled to compensation.

Hugh Speirs, 62, of Sovereign Harbour North, Eastbourne, was among the claimants left disappointed by the judgement.

He described life with pleural plaques as "like living with a time bomb".