NEW figures have confirmed that the North-East continues to have the highest death rate for mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer linked to asbestos.

Statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive yesterday show that the male death rate for mesothelioma in the region during 2007 was the highest in England.

The figures showed that the region’s male death rate per million people rose to 89.52 between 2005 and 2007, increasing from 87.08 during 2002 to 2004.

Worryingly, the death rate from mesothelioma for women in the North- East jumped from 11.19 per cent per million during 2002 to 2004, to 16.41 per cent in 2005 to 2007.

Nationally, 2,156 people died of mesothelioma in 2007, up from 2,058 for the previous year.

While victims are mainly older people, because of the long lead time taken by the disease, specialist lawyers representing North-East clients with mesothelioma said they were increasingly seeing younger victims.

Mesothelioma is caused by inhaling tiny fragments of asbestos, usually at the workplace, although family members sometimes get the disease from the workclothes of a husband or father.

The region’s high rates of this fatal form of cancer reflects the prominent role played by shipbuilding, coalmining and other heavy industry 40 years ago.

In all these industries, asbestos was frequently used as a flame-retardant and for insulation purposes.

Roger Maddocks, a partner and industrial illness specialist with law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: “We must not stop fighting for justice for the victims and their families whose lives have been torn apart by this disease.”

■ Death rates among men in Yorkshire and the Humber fell from 60.87 per million in 2002 to 2004, to 51.83 in 2005 to 2007.

The rate for women rose from 11.70 to 13.25 per million in the same period.