Cancer sufferer in co-worker search

Colin Ridley cannot remember which agency employed him

A man claims he contracted a rare form of cancer after working in a rail carriage plant for just two weeks.

Mesothelioma sufferer Colin Ridley, from York, says he was exposed to asbestos while he worked at the former ABB carriage works in 1990.

Experts have told him this could have been long enough to cause the deadly illness - but Mr Ridley cannot remember the name of the agency that employed him.

Now the 35-year-old has launched a search for his former colleagues to help him pursue a claim for compensation.

He told BBC Look North: "I can't carry things heavily. I can't do labouring work - anything along those lines.

"To find them - if they are still functioning as a company - would be a great help to put a source from me to that company to ABB."

Terminal illness

Many of the company's former workers have died from illnesses caused by breathing in the deadly dust.

But most were exposed to asbestos during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s - before health and safety rules were tightened up.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer which attacks the lining of the chest, abdominal cavity or the heart.

Mr Ridley has already had one lung removed and doctors have told him he has just ten years to live.