Three brave mums who uncovered a toxic truth

Stars pay tribute to their 'Erin Brockovichs'

- NICOLA METHVEN

THE stars of a new drama that portrays the legal fight of mothers of children born with limb defects from toxic waste have paid tribute to their own "Erin Brockovichs".

The flawed clean-up of a steelworks in the Northamptonshire town of Corby has been described as the worst case of foetal poisoning since the Thalidomide scandal of the 60s.

New Netflix drama Toxic Town covers the story of a group of mums who launched a class action against Corby borough council - and, after 10 long years, won £14.6million.

Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker, 42, said she jumped at the chance to play Susan McIntyre, whose son Connor, played by Kobi Sadler, was born with a malformed hand in 1997.

"Women fighting for justice for their children is an incredibly inspirational story," she said.

"I wanted to pay tribute to a group of women who had to fight so hard for justice, and didn't give up despite how long this took and how heartbreaking the fight was."

Mum-of-two Jodie is joined by Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood, 30, and Bridgerton's Claudia Jessie in the story of how the mums proved a link between airborne toxins and damage to unborn babies.

The court victory also led to an apology from the council, who, in their desperation to stop Corby from sinking after 11,000 steel workers lost their jobs, had cut corners when it came to health and safety measures.

As the clean-up took place, lorries transporting the toxic chemicals containing zinc, arsenic, boron and nickel went uncovered.

The town was regularly layered in thick, red dust. Unbeknown to anyone at the time, that dust was poisonous.