Dust, a new play telling the story of those whose lives were marked by exposure to deadly asbestos in Leeds in the 1930’s, has opened this month. It commemorates the struggle of June Hancock, who died in 1997 from the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma, after winning a dramatic victory against the asbestos company JW Roberts

Mrs. Hancock grew up in Armley, Leeds, a community overshadowed by JW Roberts’ huge asbestos plant. Despite never having worked with asbestos, June was diagnosed in 1994 with the same disease that killed her mother. It was this, as well as the lives of other residents claimed by asbestosis, that spurred her on to fight an intense and lengthy legal battle with the company, who paid £65,000 in compensation to the terminally ill Mrs. Hancock.

As a child June describes how she and other children would play in the drifts of asbestos dust in the factory loading bay, throwing asbestos ‘snowballs’. Some of the streets were often covered in blue asbestos dust.

The play opened in the heart of the community in Armley on 11th July, staged by the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Its stage, in a derelict factory, is close to the site of the old asbestos plant which sadly haunted the community of Armley across two generations.