CAMPAIGNERS descended upon an Appleton Thorn-based business to demand a £10million donation.

A demonstration took place outside Altrad, which is on the trading estate off Lyncastle Way, in Appleton Thorn.

The protest happened on Monday, July 17, and was attended by a large number of people.

Included in the aims of the campaign group is for Altrad to donate £10million to mesothelioma research.

The reason for this is that Altrad owned the asbestos manufacturing business Cape, which has been proven to have hidden the true dangers of asbestos.

According to the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA), more than 5,000 people die every year due to asbestos-related illnesses.

UKATA say: "Inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause cancers such as mesothelioma and lung cancer, and other serious lung diseases such as asbestosis and pleural thickening."

The protest in Appleton Thorn this week is part of a national campaign called 'Cape Must Pay,' which is aiming to receive a £10million donation from Altrad.

This campaign is coordinated by the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum (AVSGF), which says that Cape was forced to release documents by the Supreme Court, and the documents reveal a number of things.

AVSGF claims the documents:

  • Downplayed the fatal risks of working with their products and encouraged others to suppress this information
  • Withheld their own data which showed that handling and working with their asbestos products gave off far more dust than had been previously admitted or allowed by government standards
  • Successfully lobbied the government to weaken allowable exposure limits and product warnings

AVSGF adds: "Cape did all this despite knowing of the link between asbestos and mesothelioma.

"They put their profits before the lives of their own workers and those of transport workers moving their products, joiners and other construction workers using their products and the women who developed mesothelioma through washing their husbands’ overalls.

"The actions they took then are the reason people are dying of mesothelioma today and why thousands more will die in the future."

Altrad has been contacted for comment by the Warrington Guardian, though no response has been received.