BBC issues response to Esther Rantzen claims asbestos in offices

Veteran BBC presenter Esther Rantzen fears her lung cancer may have been caused by exposure to asbestos in the studios where she worked for decades.

The Times reports that the 82-year-old former British host of That’s Life! – one of the BBC’s most popular shows that ran from 1973 to 1994 – remembers staff regularly walking past piles of white dust at Lime Grove Studios, and even termed one corridor “asbestos alley.”

BBC issues response to Esther Rantzen claims #asbestos in offices ‘may have caused lung cancer’

Separately, The Times reports, the BBC has paid out £1.64 million in damages, following the deaths of 11 former staff who died from cancer, with 18 different locations being mentioned in reports. These include two musicians from the BBC Symphony Orchestra who both died in 2021, while the newspaper lists other musicians, set builders, engineers, make-up artists, producers and studio managers who have also suffered.

Jo Laverty, national organiser of the Musicians’ Union, told the paper the organisation had been “seeking robust answers” about asbestos at Maida Vale since 2017.

Asbestos kills more than 5,000 people a year in the UK, causing mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer.

Join us on one of our Asbestos Awareness courses to learn how to avoid exposure to this deadly substance.