People seek compensation over hearing loss

A group of ex-workers are seeking compensation over hearing loss they claim they suffered as a result of their employment.

In total, nine individuals who used to be staff members at the East Lancashire Paper Mill are getting legal advice on the issue.

Their representative said she is seeing an increase in the number of people from the papermaking industry seeking help after being diagnosed with noise induced hearing loss.

One of those seeking money for his suffering is Albert Isherwood, whose role at the firm saw him in the engineering department, maintaining and repairing machinery.

He remarked: "There was hardly a day I wasn't exposed to the sound of massive machinery working and yet it wasn't until the last eight or ten years or so we were given any ear protection."

Even then, this would have to be removed to understand what colleagues were trying to say, he added.

According to figures produced by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, there are currently almost nine million hearing impaired people in the UK, some of whom developed the condition due to their working conditions.