UNION leaders have attacked an insurers' bid to derail a legal challenge which could benefit thousands of asbestos sufferers.

The House of Lords said yesterday that an appeal aimed at overturning a controversial judgement last year, which meant compensation could not be paid where workers were exposed to asbestos by more than one employer, should go ahead.

The decision comes despite an attempt by insurers to end the legal challenge by making last-minute offers to the three claimants involved in the case.

While two of the three claimants considered accepting offers, a third refused, and Law Lords decided the appeal will go ahead at a date to be fixed next month.

GMB Northern secretary Kevin Curran said the insurance industry had attempted to "manipulate the legal system" to escape their responsibility.

The GMB has an estimated 4,000 live cases on its asbestos register in the region alone.

Mr Curran said: "They have tried to delay the day of reckoning and in doing so have heaped more misery on top of misery.

"Insurers have received premiums over decades for this very situation. The sad fact is that whatever happens, more people will die between now and May."

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said it had made a genuine attempt to speed up compensation payments and avoid lengthy litigation.

It had offered to establish a voluntary industry scheme to deal with asbestos claims, but this has been rejected by solicitors representing claimants as too limited.

The North-East has the highest rate of asbestos related deaths in the country with the deadly material having been widely used in the shipbuilding and chemical industries.

Many workers were employed as contractors with scores of different companies.

Last year's Court of Appeal ruling said that an employer was not liable for damages if there was any doubt over where a fatal exposure to asbestos took place.

This ultimately weakened the chances of compensation for individuals who worked at two or more places.