Since then thousands of people worldwide have similarly become victims of a serial killer, which can lie dormant for anything up to 60 years.

Thousands more consequently will be diagnosed with terminal cancers in years to come. And there is not a single thing that can be done about it.

Those who came into contact with the deadly white substance are now unwilling players in a life or death lottery.

The perils of asbestos were exposed 25 years ago.

Since then, it is claimed very little has been spent on medical research of asbestos-related cancers.

Alice worked at Acre Mill in Hebden Bridge and died of mesothelioma when she was 48 years old. Her children were five and 15.

Her moving story was transmitted in the iconic YTV documentary Alice: A Fight for Life.

Now, on the 25th anniversary of her death, John Pickering and Partners, a Halifax firm of solicitors, has started a campaign to raise research funds and create a lasting memorial to Alice and those like her.

The company knows first hand the suffering asbestos can cause. It represented Alice and others in their claims against their employers.

Solicitor Paul Glanville is in the middle of a gruelling bike ride between Paris and Marrakesh to kick-start the fund.
And boy, slogging your guts out on a 2,576-mile run is certainly that.

"We wanted to mark the anniversary by doing something positive," says Paul.

Is it not a shame that successive governments have apparently been anything but positive in their allocation of funds and that it now falls to dedicated people like Paul, to act?

Shameful in fact!