WIDOWS and other relatives of York Carriageworks asbestos victims attended a special memorial ceremony on the site where the factory once stood.

Holgate Arch, in Holgate Road, York, was adorned last night with scores of blue and purple ribbons to mark International Workers' Memorial Day.

The ceremony was organised by York Trades Council at the request of former carriageworks employee and asbestos campaigner, Paul Cooper.

Up to 30 people attended, including several widows of former workers who died through asbestos-related diseases, and a daughter.

York Parliamentary candidates Hugh Bayley, Andrew Waller and Andy D'Agorne also attended.

Mr Cooper, who addressed the gathering, said today that relatives of carriageworks victims had been pleased that the event had taken place.

He was a little disappointed that more had not turned up, but believed this might have been due to people having little prior notice of the event. He believed the ceremony would be repeated on Workers' Memorial Day next year, when more notice could be given.

The metal arch was created last year, in recognition of the craftsmanship displayed at the carriageworks, which closed in the mid-1990s. More recently, there have been calls for the arch to be made an explicit memorial to those who have died through asbestos-related illnesses.

Updated: 10:12 Friday, April 29, 2005