A MAN dying from asbestos cancer has launched a £250,000 legal battle against a company he worked for 40 years ago.

Eric Marsh, aged 56, hopes the payout will provide a legacy for his wife and children - and prompt other industry workers to take action.

He claims he came into contact with the deadly dust while working as a plumbing apprentice for United Co-operatives in the 1960s, at the firm's John Street site, in Bolton.

Now Mr Marsh has been given just 12 months to live by doctors, after developing the lung disease mesothelioma, which lies dormant in victims for at least 20 years.

He said: "When I heard those words it was devastating. Our whole world fell apart. Telling my children was one of the hardest things I've had to do.

"When doctors explained the disease to me, I traced the source back to my days as an apprentice - the only time I have been exposed to the dust.

"I spent hours working on antiquated boilers in the cellars, sweeping up the asbestos and knocking it off the top. I would never have thought I had a deadly disease within me at the age of 15."

Mr Marsh lives with his wife of 31 years, Ann, and has two children - Heather, aged 29, and John, aged 26.

Doctors discovered the cancer, which attacks the lining of the lungs and abdomen, when Mr Marsh suffered complications with a rib injury. It only reveals itself in its late stages and cannot be cured.

The keen angler has given up his job as a supervisory technician at The University of Bolton and is undergoing chemotherapy to slow down the effects of the disease.

His solicitor filed a writ against United Co-operatives on November 16.

Mr Marsh said: "I suffer excruciating pain which stops me sleeping for nights at a time. I have no energy and I have had to give up everything I enjoy - work, hiking, fishing. I have had to give up my income and I don't want to leave my family in difficulty.

"I feel no malice towards United Co-operatives, but if this case is a success, the money will make life easier for them and the outcome is something I can leave as a legacy to other sufferers in my position."

The dangers of asbestos were not realised until 1973, just two years after Mr Marsh left United Co-operatives and when a global ban on exposure to it was introduced. Thousands of former industry workers are diagnosed with forms of asbestos cancer each year.

Mr Marsh's solicitor, Anthony Coombs, of Anthony Coombs Solicitors, in Manchester, is an expert in asbestos-related litigation.

He said: "This type of cancer is almost always traced to asbestos exposure, even a small amount, and so cases are almost always successful. There is no real defence.

"The biggest problem tends to be finding old employers or insurers who are no longer in business, but that is not an obstacle in Mr Marsh's case. I'm reasonably confident that he will receive appropriate compensation."

Geoff Simpson, senior public relations manager for Rochdale-based United Co-operatives, said: "Out legal people are aware of this case. However, we are unable to comment while the legal proceedings are ongoing."