LAWYERS representing two Merseyside women who died from asbestos-related lung cancer were due at the Supreme Court today to fight to keep their compensation.

One of the legal teams last night said the hearing in the highest court in the land was “another attack” on victims of mesothelioma.

Both Dianne Willmore and Enid Costello contracted mesothelioma after inhaling small amounts of the deadly dust.

They were both awarded compensation, but the defendants in each of their cases are challenging judgments of the lower courts.

Mrs Willmore, 49, died of the aggressive cancer after apparently being exposed to low levels of asbestos dust while studying at Bowring School, in Huyton, in the 1970s.

Eastham-based Mrs Costello, 74, passed away in 2006. She was a secretary at a packaging factory in Ellesmere Port, owned by Van Leer UK, between 1964 and 1988.

Defendants Knowsley Council and manufacturer Greif UK – which took over the Cheshire factory – won Supreme Court appeals into their cases.

Because they deal with similar legal issues, the Law Lords decided to hear the cases side by side. They were expected to sit for three days from today.

Ruth Davies, who works at John Pickering & partners, and represents Mrs Willmore’s husband, Barre, said: “These cases are another attack on asbestos disease victims.

“The defendants are trying to change the law which has been working perfectly well for many years so fewer people who are dying can get properly compensated.”

Mrs Costello’s family’s solicitor, Norman Jones, who is based in Birkenhead, added: “The dangers connected with asbestos exposure and the risks of mesothelioma have been known to employers since the early 1960s when the Sunday Times made public the hazards of being exposed to asbestos in the workplace.

“Employers were left in no doubt of the consequences of exposing their workforce to asbestos after reading this article.

“It would be manifestly unfair if the law was changed to deny victims of one the worst fatal industrial diseases from receiving fair compensation.”

A Knowsley Council spokesman said: “The council has always been extremely sympathetic towards Mrs Willmore and her family.

“It is absolutely clear that Mrs Willmore suffered from a severe illness which was caused by exposure to asbestos.

“However, we do not accept that her illness was caused by exposure to asbestos in Bowring School.

“The council has a duty to protect public money, and that is why it is so important that this matter is considered and resolved at the highest level.

“Mrs Willmore was a pupil at Bowring School almost 40 years ago, and the council would like to make it clear all of Knowsley’s school buildings fully comply with management of asbestos regulations.”