THE Government has been urged to release extra funds to tackle asbestos-related diseases after a warning that deaths are reaching "epidemic" levels.

Health experts estimate 80,000 people will die from mesothelioma, the terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, which claims 1,700 lives a year.

North-East law firm Thompsons is dealing with hundreds of claims for people with the condition, and one clinic in Newcastle is seeing up to 300 patients a week.

Yesterday, as unions stepped up calls for improvements in health and safety to mark International Workers Memorial Day, a remembrance service was held in Hartlepool.

Solicitor Ian McFall said: "It seems this Government thinks the NHS can cope with what is becoming an epidemic without extra resources.

"There is an urgent need for specialist units and properly funded, dedicated research.

"People who are suffering from mesothelioma deserve more resources being invested in quicker diagnosis and better treatment of this presently incurable disease."

The number of asbestos-related deaths has risen to 3,500 a year and is forecast to increase to 10,000 by 2020.

Thompsons highlighted the case of Chris Knighton, from Newcastle, whose husband Mike died from mesothelioma in 2001 aged 60, many years after being exposed to asbestos as a young man in the Royal Navy.