Family of Suffolk mesothelioma sufferer seek former Manganese Bronze employees

Lawyers acting for the family of a Woodbridge man who died in May 2021 are trying to find people who worked with him between 1965 and 1981.

The hope is that they may be able to find out exactly when and how he was exposed to the asbestos which eventually caused his untimely death. Mr Hubbard worked as an engineering technician at Ipswich-based Delta Materials Research Limited (formerly Manganese Bronze) for many years between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s when he was made redundant.

Alan Hubbard, who lived in Bromeswell, near Woodbridge, was diagnosed with the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma in the spring of 2020 and died just over a year later, aged 73, under the care of his family and the St Elizabeth Hospice.  His family have asked local personal injury specialists Ashtons Legal to help them find out how Mr Hubbard was exposed to asbestos and whether the firm he worked for offered suitable protection to any of their employees who were required to handle asbestos.

Martyn Hayward, the Ashtons’ lawyer working with the family, comments: “We have heard from another former employee who was a metallurgist technician and recalls wearing heat resistant clothing.  Before the dangers of asbestos were fully understood, asbestos fibres were sometimes woven into fabric to make heat-resistant textiles, so it is possible that this was a contributing factor. The company also manufactured furnaces which may have contained asbestos and was known to use high temperature thermal insulation board, known as Sindanyo Board, which in that era would have contained asbestos.  We are hoping that other people who worked for Manganese Bronze at that time will get in touch and might shed some more light on Mr Hubbard’s role and his possible exposure to asbestos.”

Anyone who has any information which might help the family in their quest is asked to contact Martyn Hayward on martyn.hayward@ashtonslegal.co.uk or on 07458 109736 as soon as possible.

Alan Hubbard