'I worked as a bookie all my life... If I can get it, no-one is really safe'

Despite asbestos being banned in the UK 25-years ago, families are still suffering the devastating consequences of coming into contact with the building material today.

One person who knows this only too well is Barrie Taylor. Barrie, 72, from Denton, is a mesothelioma patient - a cancer associated with exposure to asbestos.

Barrie said: "I worked as a bookie all my life. Asbestos isn't just a risk to blokes who've worked in heavy industry.

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"If I can get mesothelioma, no-one is really safe. We should be getting asbestos out of public buildings like schools. We should be investing in medical research, because this disease is going to get more people in years to come."

Thursday March 14, marks the 100th anniversary of the first asbestos related death to be reported in medical literature. Nellie Kershaw was a young factory worker fell ill while working at the Turner & Newall asbestos plant in Rochdale.

Born in 1891 she left school, aged 12, to work in a cotton mill. Months later she began working at Garsides asbestos mill before transferring to Turner Brothers Asbestos on 31 December 1917, where she was employed to spin raw asbestos fibre into yarn.

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Despite exhibiting symptoms for a number of years, she continued to work until being certified unfit to work in 1922. Seeking sickness benefit from her employers, Turner Brothers refused to pay any benefits as asbestos-related illness was not a recognised occupational disease at the time.

Nellie died 100-years ago today on March 14, 1924, aged just 33. She was buried in an unmarked family grave at