THE widows of two York asbestos victims have hailed the launch of a new support group.

Eileen Sanderson and Joyce Taylor were among about 25 people who attended the inaugural meeting of the York Asbestos Support Group, held at Burnholme Community College.

They spoke of their traumatic experiences when their husbands, Jeffrey Sanderson and John Taylor, fell ill with the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma.

Jeffrey, who died of the cancer in 2002, is one of scores of former York Carriageworks employees who have died over the years as a result of exposure to deadly asbestos dust in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. John worked at the Rowntree factory.

The widows told how a support group would have been helpful to them, for example by giving them someone to talk to, said the new group's organiser, solicitor Kim Daniells.

"They spoke very movingly about their experiences," she said.

She said the meeting had gone very well.

"It was fantastic. There were about 25 of us there, including a group of people who had worked at York Carriageworks and been affected by pleural plaques (scarring of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos), or had friends who had suffered from mesothelioma.

She said two chest consultants, Alan Hunter, of York Hospital, and Mike Greenstone, from Hull, had also attended and spoken about asbestos-related illnesses.

The meeting was told that the incidence of such diseases, currently running at about 1,800 a year across the country, was expected to rise to 3,000 to 3,500 a year by 2020.

Among those attending the meeting was Karen Tate, the daughter of former York Carriageworks employee Dougie Peacock, who appealed in the Evening Press in December for more support and help for victims and their families.

Karen, of Fulford, said she and her family had not known where to turn when her father died last autumn of the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma, aged 57.

Kim decided to set up the group after reading of Karen's pleas, hoping it would provide care, assistance and comfort to victims and families.

She said everyone at the meeting came up with suggestions as to how the new group might help. One suggestion was that it could give advice and information about the procedures followed when an inquest was held.

She added that another meeting would be held in six to eight weeks' time.

Updated: 10:24 Thursday, March 09, 2006