A GRIEVING woman who has lost two partners to asbestos-related cancer is fighting for compensation.

Avril Grant won £40,000 compensation after the death of her husband Chris Grant in 2001, but faces a battle for compensation for the death, this year, of partner Les Alford.

Both men breathed in asbestos fibres during the early years of their working lives and developed incurable mesothelioma decades later.

Avril, of Main Road, Hoo, is believed to be the first woman in Britain to have lost two partners to asbestos-related cancer. She claimed compensation from the Government after Chris’ death but is now hoping to claim privately through her solicitor for Les.

Mr Alford, 60, is believed to have inhaled the fibres from the brake lining of wheels he changed during his 30 years as a truck driver and mechanic. Mr Grant, 58, was exposed to asbestos as a trainee electrician 40 years before his death.

She said: "Les used to earn good money but now I’m having to live without his wage. I should not have to struggle, living in poverty for the rest of my life because both my partners died of cancer.

"Forty-thousand pounds sounds like a lot of money but it is not enough to live on for the rest of my life."