A WIDOW is appealing for anyone who may have worked with her husband at one of two Rossendale firms to contact her following his death.

Gordon Livesey, from Newchurch, died last year after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a lung disease directly linked to exposure to asbestos.

Barbara Livesey, 60, is now taking legal action against the insurers of three firms and is appealing for former Rossendale workers to testify.

Gordon, son of Rossendale window cleaner, Jack Livesey, worked for John Butterworth Company of Waterfoot and Rossendale Combining Company in Rawtenstall in the early 1960s.

It is not known when Mr Livesey may have been exposed to asbestos and no evidence links her husband’s previous employers with his condition.

Mrs Livesey, who is represented by John Pickering solicitors, said: “We are not suing the companies directly but their insurers.

“Back in the 1960s health and safety was not like it is today though I know that nothing was done maliciously.

“However I do believe it was in Rossendale that Gordon was exposed to asbestos when he was in his early 20s.”

The John Butterworth company ceased trading in 1998 and Barbara’s legal team has not been able to find the previous Employers’ Liability Insurer for the relevant period of time.

Mrs Livesey is also looking for people who worked at Rossendale Combining Company Limited. The company has denied liability.

A month before Gordon’s 65th birthday he was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma and died on the May 29, 2009.

Medical experts believe the number of deaths due to mesothelioma will continue to rise in the next six years.

A spokesman from John Pickering solicitors said: “There is no known cure for the disease and the condition has long been associated with past exposure to asbestos with gaps of sometimes 30, 40 and even 50 years between exposure to the deadly dust and the onset of the disease.

“We need people to come forward soon because we are on a legal deadline.”

Rossendale Combining Company Limited the company declined to comment on the case.

Anyone with information, call Dominic Collingwood on 0808 144 0959 or email dc@johnpickering.co.uk.