A WIDOW whose husband was killed by asbestos dust brought home by his father from York Carriageworks has won a ground-breaking claim for damages.

As a teenager, John Dawson regularly used to be tinkering with his motorbike in the backyard when his father, Bob, returned home and shook dust off his overalls.

More than 30 years later, he died of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, aged 54. An inquest heard he never worked with asbestos but there was evidence he was exposed to dust from his father's overalls.

Now, almost four years after his death, the British Railways Board has accepted liability for the exposure and paid compensation to his widow.

It is believed to be the first time compensation has been paid out following the death of a carriageworks employee's child through asbestos exposure.

Biting back tears, Mrs Dawson, who did not want to give her full name, said she had been determined to pursue the case as a matter of principle, even if she had eventually lost out financially.

"We feel we have finally achieved justice. We have got them to accept that they were to blame."

She said the out-of-court settlement might now allow her to begin putting the trauma behind her.

Mrs Dawson, who nursed her husband at home up until his death, also spoke of her contempt for the way his father was exposed to such danger when he worked at the carriageworks in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

"Disgusted is not the word I would use to describe the way I feel," she said. "You cannot print what I think.

"The Government knew all those years ago asbestos was hazardous, but did nothing. Now the second generation is starting to suffer."

Mrs Dawson's solicitor, Toby Conyers-Kelly, partner in the Scarborough firm of Longstaff & Midgley, said that the case regrettably demonstrated that it was not just the wives of former carriage workers who were potentially at risk.

He said: "When Mr Dawson was first questioned by doctors about possible asbestos exposure he did not even consider it could have been caused by dust from his father's overalls.

"If family members of former carriage workers are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed as having an asbestos-related disease, they could be entitled to claim damages from British Railways Board."

He believed it was the first case of damages being paid to the child of a carriageworks employees over asbestos exposure.

A British Railways Board spokesman said that as far as he was aware, this was indeed the case. He said that in such cases, there was a requirement for a greater standard of proof than there was with carriageworks employees, but the matter had been settled appropriately within the law.

Updated: 08:32 Wednesday, March 30, 2005