In 1994 June Hancock was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The same disease had also killed her mother. She and her family lived in the shadow of the JW Roberts asbestos factory – as a child June played in drifts of the deadly material which lay in the firm’s loading bay. Despite her terminal illness June took the company to court and in 1995 finally won compensation. Now a new play has been written, inspired by June’s fight. It premieres on Saturday and will be staged close to the site of the old factory.
