SEVEN sisters of a woman killed by cancer linked to asbestos dust on their dad's dockyard overalls have won a four-year compensation battle.

Beverley McKnight, of Kings Tamerton, died of the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma aged 46 — decades after inhaling dust from her father's work clothes.

Following a lengthy legal fight, her family has finally won a five-figure payout from the Ministry of Defence, which admitted liability.

Beverley's sisters said they are relieved to complete the case but it comes too late for Beverley who did not have a chance to benefit from compensation.

Speaking out to raise awareness of mesothelioma, they described their own fear of developing the disease, which they said is a 'timebomb'.

Plymouth is a hotspot for asbestos-related deaths, many among former Devonport workers and their families.

Cases are expected to peak in the next decade, as the condition takes between 30 and 40 years to emerge.

Beverley's sister Anne Mure, 52, of Challaborough, said: "The dockyard took our sister away. No way should that girl have been gone at 46. It was an absolutely tragic end to her life.

"When I sit and think what she went through and how much easier her life could have been if she had that compensation, it's shocking.

"She always said 'when I get my compo I will do this and that and maybe pay to get better'. But it turned out just to be a dream."

Beverley's story is similar to that of Plymouth mum Debbie Brewer, who sued the MoD for a six-figure sum after claiming her lung cancer was caused by hugging her dockyard worker father as a child.

Alison Richardson, 44, of Honicknowle, another of Beverley's sisters, said: "I wish she'd had the same opportunities that Debbie has had.

"Debbie got compensation in time and has been able to do something about it but Beverley didn't get it and there was no hope.

"She was absolutely desperate to find something to help, clutching at straws, going to faith healers."

Debbie used her pay-out to receive specialised chemotherapy treatment in Germany, and has lived for years longer than doctors predicted.

Beverley, who was unmarried with no children, died in her own home surrounded by family on May 18, 2006 — just over a year after her diagnosis.

Doctors at Derriford Hospital told her she had mesothelioma in April, 2005.

The news followed a biopsy and months of tests after Beverley had started experiencing fluid on her lungs because of the mesothelioma.

Alison said: "It's drowning basically, with fluid on the lungs.

"To watch somebody not be able to breath and be reliant on oxygen. It was completely shocking."

The sisters say the only place Beverley could have been exposed to asbestos is from her dockyard worker father's overalls.

Albert Snow worked as a boiler maker and welder at Devonport Dockyard throughout his life, through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

He died of an aneurysm aged 67 in 2002. He had been diagnosed with asbestos-related lung scarring pleural plaque.

Alison: "He used to come home in his work clothes. We would hug him when he came through the door. We would all sit close together on the sofa watching TV with him — there were so many of us.

"It feels like a time bomb. When Beverley died they said we should all get tested but my theory is why would you want to risk that diagnosis when you're not poorly — it's just a death sentence."

Anne said they are all relieved to have won the compensation but sad because it 'should have been Beverley's'.

She said: "If she had had it, I really think she could have paid for her treatment. We will never know because she's gone.

"We lost a great big character when we lost her. We are all devastated at our loss. We will keep her in our heads and hearts and she will never be forgotten."

Four of Beverley's sisters wished to remain unnamed.

An MoD spokesman said: "Our thoughts remain with the family of Beverley McKnight at this difficult time. Where the Ministry of Defence is proven to have a legal liability to pay compensation we will do so."