Grandmother will get incurable most cancers after inhaling poisonous asbestos throughout college musical rehearsals 55 years in the past

A grandmother has incurable cancer after being exposed to toxic asbestos while rehearsing for her school production of the musical Half A Sixpence as a child.

Rose Hall, 66, is among what is claimed to be thousands of former pupils who have developed mesothelioma after inhaling deadly asbestos fibres decades ago.

Although asbestos, Britain’s ‘hidden killer’, was banned in new buildings in 1999, there are still 21,500 schools with the material.

Ms Hall sued Leeds City Council and received an undisclosed sum after it was found that Allerton Grange school, which she went to in the 1970s, was riddled with asbestos. The school was demolished and rebuilt in 2009.

She initially thought her exposure could have been linked to emergency building work there.

But in recent weeks she was shocked to learn asbestos was found under the school’s stage, where props were stored.

She recalls going under the stage during rehearsals for Half A Sixpence when she was 11. ‘I was a child, I didn’t know asbestos was there,’ said the mother-of-two.

The policy of successive governments is to leave asbestos in schools unless it is damaged and shedding fibres. But last year the Mail launched a campaign to strip it from all schools, hospitals and other public buildings.

Rose Hall (pictured), 66, is among what is claimed to be thousands of former pupils who have developed mesothelioma after inhaling deadly asbestos fibres decades ago

Allerton Grange school before it was knocked down and rebuilt. Ms Hall sued Leeds City Council and received an undisclosed sum after it was found that the school was riddled with asbestos

Ms Hall said: ‘It absolutely should be removed from schools. I’m worried about my grandchildren.’ Leeds City Council said 70 of its 97 schools have identified asbestos and they are inspected by qualified professionals each year.

‘This includes a detailed visual survey of all known asbestos‑containing materials to ensure they remain in good condition and undisturbed,’ said a spokesman.

There are 5,000 asbestos-related deaths a year in Britain, of which 2,200 are from mesothelioma.

It can take 20 to 60 years from being exposed to asbestos to developing symptoms, such as chest pains and breathlessness.

The Office For National Statistics has no data on mesothelioma deaths due to asbestos exposure as a pupil. But a report last year by campaigners the Joint Union Asbestos Committee said 25,200 exposed before the mid-1990s are predicted to die from the disease.

Ms Hall, who is about to start chemotherapy, was devastated at being diagnosed in 2019.

‘I’m fighting this on my own, so I’m scared,’ she said. ‘I get a bit tearful. I’m in a very good support group… but I’ve lost so many people from this group.’

High Court documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday also reveal that a widow of a sales director is suing Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire for £250,000 after he died of mesothelioma aged 61 because of exposure to asbestos at another school in the 1970s. In a shocking echo of Ms Hall’s case, the papers reveal that he breathed in asbestos lagging pipes under a theatre stage at Colne Valley High School, near Huddersfield.

Ms Hall was a child when she was exposed to asbestos. It can take 20 to 60 years to develop symptoms, such as chest pains and breathlessness

Kirklees admits liability but damages have yet to be agreed.

In a further tragedy, mother-of-three Lisa Doughty, 47, died of mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos during music lessons at Haggerston school in Hackney, east London, in the early 1980s.

The music room ceiling had been sprayed with brown asbestos to insulate sound. But repeated slamming of the class door resulted in asbestos dust falling on pupils.

Hackney Council said: ‘The school is subject to regular asbestos surveys and removals.’

The Department for Education said it followed advice from the Health and Safety Executive, ‘who are clear that when asbestos-containing materials are in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed, it is generally safest to manage them in place.’