An appeal has been launched to find people who attended a secondary school during the 1960s after a man was diagnosed with an asbestos-related cancer.

The 72-year-old, who does not wish to be named, attended Tunbridge Wells Technical High, now Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys from 1963-1968.

It comes after a Freedom of Information request previously revealed the school was one of the 346 Kent County Council-run schools to contain asbestos, which can cause diseases including terminal lung cancer if inhaled.

The man, who worked as a software engineer and grew up in Tonbridge, was diagnosed with mesothelioma around April this year.

Through the appeal it is hoped that some of the boys who attended the school with him, particularly in the years of 1965-1966 may come forward.

During his teenage years, the 72-year-old would often crawl into a space underneath the floor of a hall inside the school with around five others to play truant from lessons.

He said: “It was a dirty, dusty place and full of rubble where we used to hang-out and a place we could have breathed it in.

“That’s where we used to go instead of going to lessons.

“Nobody normally would have gone in there apart from the caretaker or a janitor.”

The space underneath the floor was only high enough to sit, you could not stand up inside it.

He remembers the group going into this basement during those years and says they would be in there two to three times a week for about an hour at a time.

However, since moving out of the county he says he lost contact with all the boys from school and hopes the appeal may trigger a memory.

Talking of his diagnosis, he said: “I had a problem with breathlessness and fatigue when walking and I went to see the GP.”

He was diagnosed with mesothelioma and has since had immunotherapy to slow down the progress of it, but he’s had to stop this as the side effects were “pretty horrendous”.

Unfortunately, chemotherapy isn’t an option because he has had a stroke in the past.

The 72-year-old said: “It’s terminal, there’s no cure for it. It won’t go away.”

He now hopes a successful claim could fund private treatment.

“I know there are new treatments out there, but they’re not available to me,” he added.

Asbestos survey results seen by KentOnline support the existence of asbestos in the school.

Throughout his career, the software developer generally worked from home or in clean offices where he is unlikely to be exposed to asbestos.

Anyone with information that could help is urged to contact asbestos lawyer, Phillip Gower. His contact details are Phillip.Gower@redkitelaw.co.uk and 07815 466908.

A Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said: “We investigate all claims we receive and liaise directly with a claimant’s legal team.”