A cancer sufferer won his High Court battle for compensation over asbestos exposure just days before he died.

George Alexander, lost his battle against the asbestos-related mesothelioma on Sunday (Nov 25).

The 71-year-old claimed his illness was caused by deadly fibres he inhaled while working as an electrical fitter in the Seventies and Eighties.

Last Thursday (Nov 22) he learned the council he used to work for had settled his High Court claim out of court in a deal worth £88,000.

By that point he had moved from his home in Langdale Road, Hove, to Martlets Hospice in Wayfield Avenue.

He spent the last days of his life at the specialist centre.

His solicitor, Helen England, said news of his victory boosted him as the end came.

She said: "He was really, really pleased.

"Hopefully it was a relief before he passed away."

Mr Alexander claimed the mesothelioma he developed later in life cut his life expectancy by 12 years.

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

A writ issued by Mr Alexander through solicitors Simpson Millar said he worked in a municipal laundry and swimming pool, maintaining boilers and pipework.

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

The writ claimed he once disturbed asbestos lagging as part of work replacing an old boiler door. In 1978, he worked near contractors as they replaced asbestos.

Mesothelioma kills nearly 2,000 people in the UK 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.

Miss England said: "Mr Alexander was one of thousands throughout the country who was suffering from the terminal disease of mesothelioma from being negligently exposed to asbestos by their employers.

"It is really important that Mr Alexander and those like him get the compensation they so rightly deserve to assist them during the time they have left and for the loved ones they leave behind."

Exposure to asbestos is often indicated by pleural plaques - scars on the lining of the lungs. Though they are not cancerous, people with plaques live with the knowledge they have been exposed and could develop mesothelioma in future.

Last month the Law Lords ruled people suffering from pleural plaques had no right to compensation.

Emma Costin, a partner at Simpson Millar, represented Eastbourne claimant Hugh Speirs, 62, of Sovereign Harbour North, who described life with pleural plaques as "like living with a time bomb" .

She said: "The decision is devastating news to many thousands of innocent victims of asbestos and their families.

"A diagnosis of pleural plaques condemns a person to a lifetime of never knowing when a more serious condition is going to be diagnosed.

"This impacts on their loved ones as much as it does them."

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