A FORMER mill worker in Burnley has launched a compensation fight after being diagnosed with an asbestos-related cancer.

Eighty-three year-old Helene Titl spent more than 12 years working at various textile factories in the town and is now battling mesothelioma, diagnosed earlier this year.

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Lawyers acting on behalf of the ex-textiles operative, then known as Helene Jones, are asking her former colleagues to come forward as she seeks redress from her old employers.

The mother-of-two – who now lives in Washington, on Tyneside, and trained in Chorley and Preston before moving to Burnley’s Ruskin Street Mill in 1957 – was ‘shocked’ by her diagnosis and believes it is linked to asbestos exposure.

Her mechanical looms, she believes, were powered by turbines linked to absestos-lagged boilers, with overhead vents emitting steam to provide the right environment for the cotton being produced.

She then worked for both Ingham & Lee (Heasandford) Limited, in Netherwood Road, and at another site run by Stephen Cann & Company.

Her next five or six years were spent at a Joshua Hoyle and Son mill in Plumbe Street, before she left to work at Burnley Miners Club, until 1973.

Later in life she worked for NAAFI, with various postings across Germany and the Netherlands, ending in 1997.

Helene said: “At the time of my diagnosis I was still working, was very fit, independent and living alone. However, I now feel more fragile and my son Larry has been helping me around the house.

“I am extremely worried about how the illness will affect me and I am not sure how I will manage if I need more care, as my daughter Maureen lives nearby but has to work full-time and my son now lives in London.”

Her lawyer Isobel Lovett, of Irwin Mitchell solicitors, added: “We are asking Helene’s former colleagues to come forward and provide information about the working conditions they were exposed to and what safety measures were in place to reduce exposure to asbestos dust.”

The firm can be contacted at its Newcastle office on 0191 279 0100. Or e-mail isobel.lovett@irwinmitchell.com