TROWBRIDGE’S Theresa Trott, whose father died after he was exposed to asbestos at Westbury’s cement works, is encouraging other people who have lost family members to go for it in making a compensation claim.

The 62-year-old’s father Fred Taylor died in September last year suffering from mesothelioma – a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos – after spending more than 25 years working at the cement works.

Mr Taylor began working at the plant, formerly owned by Blue Circle, in the late 1960s as an engineer before taking voluntary redundancy in the early 1990s.

“He was 81 when he died, which is pretty good going but he had a lot of chest infections and gave up smoking a good 15 years before he died,” said Mrs Trott, who lives in Kingswood Chase.

“When he retired there wasn’t much information about asbestos exposure and you need to have a biopsy to see it.

“He spent his last years in the hospital after he broke his hip and contracted pneumonia and that was the first indication that he might have something.

“It wasn’t until the coroner spoke with us and said money was laid down for this purpose that we thought about doing it.”

Mrs Trott, along with her siblings, contacted lawyers Withy King which has a personal injury team specialising in industrial diseases and were awarded an undisclosed fee on behalf of her father’s estate.

“For us personally it seemed like we were profiting from his death but It has made a difference to all of us and he would be happy that we have it, it’s just sad that he isn’t here to enjoy it,” she said.

“Millions of pounds have been put aside because of this so go for it, it’s a pretty painless procedure and these companies don’t really have much of a leg to stand on.”

The cement works was opened by Blue Circle in 1962 before a £3.1 billion merger took place with French building materials group Lafarge in 2001, which saw the group become the world’s largest cement company.

The site, which is now owned by Tarmac, was mothballed in 2009 and buildings, including the iconic 122-metre chimney, are due to be demolished in the near future.

A spokesman for Tarmac said: “It would be inappropriate to comment on individual cases for confidentiality reasons.”