A GRANDFATHER battling an asbestos-related disease yesterday won £948,565 High Court damages.

The award to 59-year-old Raymond Shanks is believed to be one of the biggest of its kind.

Mr Shanks, of Grindon Close, West Monkseaton, north Tyneside, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005 - two years after his son, Michael, died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 28.

Before his son died, Mr Shanks promised him that he would support his two children, now aged nine and seven, said Judge Hickinbottom, in London.

Mr Shanks sued Swan Hunter Group, who he worked for as an electrician at its Wallsend shipyard for four years from 1965.

He emigrated to Australia with his wife and family in 1982, but returned to the UK in October 2005 after his diagnosis.

After an operation and chemotherapy, he has enjoyed a stable and good quality of life since last year, although he has constant pain in his chest and can only walk at a "snail's pace".

But the judge said it was unlikely Mr Shanks would survive beyond early 2009.

Awarding him £70,000 for pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, the judge noted that he had once been fit and active.

The balance was made up of sums for loss of earnings, relocation costs and other expenses.