Earlier this week the Evening Telegraph reported the case of 74-year-old Cecil Fuller, who is seriously ill with asbestosis.

Mr Fuller launched a desperate plea for help from former colleagues from at the Nene Valley Coachworks in Rushden, where he worked between 1955 and 1966, to help him get compensation.

Following the article calls came into the office from people with similar stories.

Mr Fuller worked as a carpenter at the now-defunct caravan company, cutting sheets of asbestos used for insulation.

He is now completely immobile, cannot breathe properly and has suffered a number of heart attacks, but his solicitors cannot find the firm's insurance company to claim compensation.

Graham Inwood, 70, of Hall Avenue, Rushden, worked at the same company, cutting asbestos for nine years.

He left when he was 26 to become a driving instructor, but had to retire at the age of 63 because he became too sick.

His wife Ellen 68, tried desperately to get compensation for him.During years of research she gathered a list of about 20 people prepared to give statements to support his case.

She worked with two solicitors but both came to nothing.

She said: "We gave up because the solicitors said there was no more they could do.

"These men were working in good faith. All we want is justice and recognition for what has happened to them."

Raymond Barnett, 76, of Meadow Way, Higham Ferrers, worked at the firm as a carpenter and joiner.

He suffers from pleural plaques and is often tired and breathless.
He and his wife Jean, 63, worked for years trying to get compensation, but gave up after there was nowhere left to turn.

She said: "It is terrible. It was a big firm and a lot of people worked there. It just doesn't seem fair that they put everybody's lives at risk and have given us no compensation."

Wellingborough and Rushden MP Peter Bone wants people to contact him so he can help.

He said: "The Government is sympathetic and after a High Court ruling this will be moving forward.

"It is a horrible disease which can be fatal and these people are definitely entitled to compensation."