During a fire involving 2 garages on Radstock Road, Midsomer Norton, Somerset on the 28^th November, asbestos fibres from the garage roofs were released into the atmosphere when they exploded causing the asbestos to be deposited on the street, gardens and cars of the residents of Railway View Place. 

The blaze which was thought to be arson led to residents being forced to stay in their homes to protect themselves from the inhalation of asbestos fibres which would potentially put them at risk of developing asbestos related conditions such as mesothelioma in the future.

Some residents were evacuated, others were told by police that they should not drive over the asbestos and that they should wash their shoes after walking on it.  Unfortunately this information was not provided until many residents had already walked or driven over the asbestos fibres without precaution. 

According to residents it took the council 36 hours to clean up the asbestos debris despite the council knowing the potential dangers that asbestos can cause. 

A spokesperson for the council said: “The council is confident that all reasonable steps were taken under the circumstances to minimise the risk to the public and restrict any spread of debris from the fire."

The council said there were no specialist asbestos contractors available to attend the site until Monday.  Instead they closed the road and restricted vehicle movement to prevent the spread of asbestos debris.

Residents were angered that they were not given proper advice by the council and that even after the blaze had long been put out bits of asbestos had been allowed to remain including the debris of the garage itself which has been fenced off rather than removed.  Residents fear that as a result more asbestos fibres could potentially be released.

Please click here for the article from This is Somerset.

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Notes  

We are a specialist personal injury law firm.  We have been handling claims for industrial disease for over 30 years.  Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims. 

We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers.  

We have an ethical approach and pledge to donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers. 

We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law.  Find out more about us or find out about our reported cases.  We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary"Alice: A Fight For Life."   Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs.  It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum). 

According to the British Lung Foundation, more than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015.

The British Lung Foundation, supported by John Pickering and Partners LLP, launched the first Action Mesothelioma Day on 27th February 2006, to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people working with asbestos.