THE widow of an asbestos victim is backing a campaign demanding a compensation package for hundreds of families in her position.

Pat Woodruff spoke out just days before a public meeting that is being held to highlight the plight of former employees of the Turner and Newall (T and N) group - where her husband Roy worked for eight years.

The company - which made asbestos based goods - had five factories in Greater Manchester, including one at Trafford Park.

But a financial wrangle means many victims of asbestos related illnesses are dying uncompensated.

Pat's husband Roy died at 48 years of age from asbestos related lung cancer - after years of working with the deadly substance without any protection.

Four years after his death, his widow Pat, aged 52, of Cross Lane West, Partington, has still not received any compensation, as is the case with many other 'forgotten victims' of fatal asbestos related illnesses.

And this week Pat spoke of her bitterness at the treatment of the many dead and dying workers affected. T and N had 14 plants in Britain and each year about 500 former T and N employees sue the company for their asbestos-related illnesses, according to figures from a support group.

T and N went into administration in October 2001, after the bankruptcy of Federal Mogul, its parent company. The insurance companies that had provided insurance for T and N since 1972 are refusing to admit liability. Although the Government is talking about interim payments and the administrators are discussing a payment scheme, asbestos victims are dying uncompensated.

Roy died only three months after becoming ill. Before his sudden illness he had been in good health.

He was one of an estimated 72 people in Trafford that died of asbestos related illness from 1997 to 2001 - with another 660 deaths in the rest of Greater Manchester during the same period.

Roy had served his apprenticeship as a thermal insulation engineer with T and N, which involved putting on and stripping off asbestos. He worked at the company from the mid 1960s until 1974.

Grandmother Pat, who is registered disabled with a condition that affects her spine and arthritis, said: "Once the dangers of asbestos came to light he always said he would get asbestosis - unfortunately he was right.

"I think the way the families hve been treated is absolutely disgusting. Roy was no age. We had talked of all the things we would do when the kids left home and now I feel cheated.

"There are thousands of people in the same situation as me and they should be helped.

"If the people who are dying knew their families would be financially secure when they are gone it would help them, although it would not take away the pain."

*GMAVSG and other asbestos support groups are holding the public meeting tomorrow (Friday, October 25), from 2pm to 4pm at Friends Meeting House (at the rear of the Central Reference Library), Mount Street, Manchester city centre.

The support group can be contacted on tel 953 4037, or FAX 953 4001.