A PENSIONER has been awarded £250,000 compensation after his wife died following years of washing her husband's asbestos-contaminated clothes.

Retired pipe-fitter Alfred Eccles has received the money from former employer Universal Grinding Wheel Company, in Stafford, in an out-of-court settlement.

Now the cash is being put in a trust fund for 39-year-old daughter Joanna, who has severe cerebral palsy.

Mr Eccles, aged 67, from Stone, was exposed to asbestos in pipe lagging as part of his job from the 1960s to 1992.

For around 10 years Patricia laundered Alfred's work clothes, exposing her to asbestos fibres and dust.

It is likely Mrs Eccles, who died in 2004, contracted untreatable cancer mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos.

Mr Eccles, who has fought for compensation since his wife's death, said: "I'm angry with the company and myself, and feel guilty because Patricia caught the disease from my clothes.

"The money won't bring Patricia back, but it will at least ensure Joanna's care for the future."

Mr Eccles contracted lung cancer in 1988 and had chemotherapy. However it was not proved that the cause was asbestos.

Isobel Lovett, of legal firm Ashton Morton Slack, which represented Mr Eccles, said: "I am delighted the family's battle for justice has finally been won.

"They have borne the brunt of the terrible legacy of asbestos use, when little or no thought was given to protecting workers like Mr Eccles or his family."

A spokesman for Zurich, one of the insurers for Universal Grinding Wheel, said: "We entirely sympathise with the circumstances of the family. The company is committed to paying out for claims for symptomatic asbestos-related illnesses as swiftly as possible."