A PLYMOUTH teenager has won her legal battle to prove her deformity was caused by her mother’s exposure to toxic materials before she was born.

Student Sarah Croft, 18, from Ridge Park Road, Plympton, is missing three fingers and was one of 18 young people suing Corby Borough Council, claiming their mothers had been exposed to an “atmospheric soup of toxic materials”.

The council, which was responsible for the reclamation of a former steelworks, was found liable yesterday at London’s High Court. It is now considering the court’s decision.

It had denied being negligent during the works at Corby’s former British Steel plant between 1985 and 1999, and that there was a link between the removal of waste to a quarry north of the site and deformities affecting hands and feet.

Sarah’s mother, trainee solicitor Carolyn Croft, told The Herald: “I think it’s great, though we don’t yet know if the council will challenge the ruling or accept that it is liable.

“Sarah is quite blase; it’s more me that’s been concerned.

“She doesn’t know if she will receive any money or what she would do with it – although I know she would like to travel.”

Mrs Croft said she was glad the class action had succeeded, that someone had been held responsible and that parents would know their children’s deformities were not their fault.

She added: “This will also help to protect future unborn children, because it will make all local authorities and big contractors doing up old industrial sites more aware of their responsibilities.”

Mrs Croft described Sarah, who has just left college after taking A levels in law, psychology and media studies, as ‘a normal, happy 18-year-old’.

She added: “Despite missing the middle three fingers of her left hand, she is a happy, confident kid, but she has a general weakness on her left side which she notices if carrying heavy weights or large packages.”

Mrs Croft has lived almost all her life in Plymouth, but became pregnant while living away for one year in Cambridgeshire.

In the crucial early stages of her pregnancy, she often visited her sister in Corby.

The group action is thought to be the first of its kind since the Thalidomide scandal in the 70s.

Individual claims for compensation are expected to take two to three more years to settle, with claimants all expected to receive at least £100,000.

When the case started in February, Sarah told The Herald: “Although I know others are in worse situations than me, I still find it difficult with certain things.

“It’s not just about the money.”

In his lengthy judgement, Mr Justice Akenhead said there was a “statistically significant” cluster of birth defects between 1989 and 1999.

He said: “Toxicologically, there were present on and from the Corby Borough Council sites, over the whole period from 1985 – and possibly before – until 1997, the types of contaminants which could cause the birth defects complained of, which affect the hands and feet. There was an extended period between 1983 and August 1997 in which Corby Borough Council was extensively negligent in its control and management of the sites which they acquired from British Steel and otherwise used.”