SOLICITORS for British Rail have admitted they made a mistake by denying a pensioner dying of a tumour caused by asbestos had worked at Horwich Locomotive Works.

Andrew Sim, of London-based Kennedies Solicitors, said the company could not find the records of Jim Smith, even though he worked for British Railways Board for 30 years.

As reported in Tuesday's BEN, Jim, aged 81, from Horwich, received a "substantial" amount in compensation in a High Court action after he was struck down with a lung tumour caused by asbestos dust from the now-closed Horwich works.

The pensioner had to prove that he had worked for the company after they first denied employing him.

Mr Sim said: "He had ceased working in 1980 which meant we could not find his records.

"We're normally pretty good at keeping records but having employed hundreds of thousands of people this has crept up once or twice."

He added the company had to be very careful to check records to avoid potential fraudulent cases.

Mr Sim said: "We're dealing with public money.

"It's not beyond the realms of possibility that people make claims when they have never been employed in the railway industry.

"You would expect us to ensure that we are dealing with someone that had been employed."

Mr Sim said he was not expecting a sudden increase in claims following the case, adding there had been a steady flow of cases since the 1970s.

He said: "It would be alarmist of me to say we are expecting to be inundated with claims.

It doesn't follow that just because you worked in a certain place you would contact asbestosis, let alone the killer type.

"I do not expect floods of claims to come."

But he did admit that British Railways Board had already paid out millions of pounds in compenation to former workers and would continue to do so for some years to come.

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