THE right to compensation of many York asbestos victims was hanging in the balance this week after a test case went to the Court of Appeal.

Insurers Norwich Union and Zurich were challenging the right to damages of people suffering from pleural plaques - scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos dust.

They were appealing against a High Court test case earlier this year, which ruled victims should continue to receive payments, although levels of payouts should be about half the previous figure.

Thompsons Solicitors, who specialise in asbestos disease cases, said Philip Benson, aged 83, of Poppleton, who worked from 1936 to 1984 as a coach builder, was one of thousands across the country who were suffering from the condition and would be affected by the case.

"He worked in the interior department from 1950 to 1972, where he was exposed to blue asbestos every day, for several hours per day," said a spokesman.

"He recalls the blue asbestos arrived in Hessian bags and was placed into large containers and mixed into a paste. The blue asbestos was completely exposed and unsealed when the coaches arrived in the interior department.

"He remembers brushing down his overalls and his hair at the end of the day and clouds of blue dust coming off him, and recalls having to spit the dust particles out of his mouth. When he sneezed or blew his nose, blue flecks used to be left on his handkerchief."

Mr Benson had lost 38 of his colleagues from British Rail to asbestos-related diseases, and he thought it was now his turn after the plaques were diagnosed.

Paul Cooper, who has recently been awarded a Pride of York award in recognition of his work campaigning on behalf of carriageworks asbestos victims, said pleural plaques were an extremely worrying condition.

He said: "Sufferers have to live with the knowledge that they have been exposed to the killer dust through no fault of their own, and are at increased risk of developing the terminal asbestos related cancer, mesothelioma.

"It would be a great wrong if these sufferers were denied the legal redress they deserve from their employer's insurers."

A spokesman for Norwich Union said the company and Zurich were seeking clarification from the courts over compensation for

with pleural plaques.

He said in the vast majority of cases, people's lives were not physically affected, but were awarded compensation because of the anxiety they were caused.

"In our view, compensation should be paid to those who are suffering from more serious conditions associated with

exposure to asbestos."

The hearing was expected to last all week.

Updated: 09:56 Tuesday, November 15, 2005