Former tar plant workers are bring urged to come forward

FORMER Newcastle and Gateshead tar plant workers are being urged to come forward as a legal campaign over serious illness claims is launched.

- By DAVID HUNTLEY Court reporter [e-mail]

The legal campaign, led by law firm Hugh James, is calling on former workers of the St Anthony's Tar Works and Norwood Cokeworks, and families of those who may have passed away, to come forward to help those affected by serious illness linked to historic tar and chemical exposure.

The campaign follows mounting evidence linking historic chemical exposure at the site, and similar sites across England and Wales, to a range of serious illnesses, including respiratory diseases and skin cancer.

The St Anthony's Tar Works, on the Walker Riverside in Newcastle, was a key producer of coal tar products, such as creosote and pitch, throughout much of the 20th century, before closing in 1983.

The site later gained notoriety for its severe environmental contamination, with reports revealing tar seepage into the River Tyne decades after closure.

Similarly, the Norwood Cokeworks in Dunston, Gateshead operated from 1912 until 1986, producing coke, tar, benzole, sulphate of ammonia, and gas.