Did you work at any of these firms in Pontefract and Knottingley?

The daughter of a Pontefract woman  who died from asbestos cancer is making a heartfelt plea to help determine how her mother was exposed to asbestos dust.
Jean Sanders who died of mesothelioma in 2020.Jean Sanders who died of mesothelioma in 2020.
Jean Sanders who died of mesothelioma in 2020.

Jean Sanders was diagnosed with mesothelioma in February 2020. A terminal cancer of the lining of the lungs, mesothelioma is most commonly associated with exposure to asbestos, often decades previously.

Mrs Sanders died on April 28, 2020 aged 84 and her daughter Tracey is helping asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate her illness and where her exposure to asbestos could have taken place.

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An appeal has gone out to former colleagues of Mrs Sanders and her late husband Malcolm Sanders' to aid the investigation.

Mrs Sanders believed she may have been exposed to asbestos dust as a result of washing her husband’s overalls. And so information is being sought on the companies that Mr Sanders worked for - Yorkshire Tar Distilleries and Plasmor which were both based in Knottingley, and Wilkinson’s Furniture/Wilkinson’s Cabinet Works located on Mill Dam Lane in Pontefract.

He worked at Yorkshire Tar Distilleries in the 1960s and for Plasmor from approximately 1960/1970 to his retirement.

Information is also being sought in relation to Mrs Sanders' former employers, W R Wilkinson & Co which later merged with Geo Bassett and Co Limited (now known as Tangerine Confectionery) and was based in Knottingley, and S R Gent, the large clothing manufacturer that had premises in Pontefract.

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She worked for W R Wilkinson and Co in 1954 for approximately one year and later worked for S R Gent in 1983/1984.

During her lifetime, Jean recalled working in the vicinity of pipework with asbestos lagging and also maintenance being undertaken to equipment while she worked.

Nicola Handley, the specialist asbestos-related disease lawyer representing the family, said: “Since Jean died, the family has found it incredibly difficult to come to terms with her no longer being here, and what makes it worse is the unanswered questions they still have surrounding her death."

“We would therefore be grateful if anyone who worked with him for any of these companies could come forward with any information that may help with our investigations, added Ms Handley.

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She added:“Any detail, no matter how small, could prove vital.”

Anyone with information that may assist with this case is asked to contact Nicola Handley at 07711 345400 or by e-mail at [email protected]