Father's Day is a traumatic time for Nottinghamshire widow Jennifer Barratt and her family, with it a painful reminder of the husband and father they lost to an asbestos-related disease.

In her home in the village of Cropwell Butler, Jennifer surrounds herself with the furniture made by her late husband. Her bungalow has the name 'Grasmere' - a tribute to Roy as it is a place the couple loved to visit.

When the two met at the local chapel Roy was an apprentice at a family joiner's in Radcliffe-On-Trent where he stayed for six years. Later he had his own business making furniture and kitchen units.

But after a happy marriage which spanned 33 years, Roy died as a result of mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibres decades earlier. Asbestos-related diseases claim around 4,000 lives a year.

The pair noticed that something may have been awry with Roy's health towards his late 50s.

Jennifer said: "I remember Roy telling somebody that he felt himself slowing down and out of breath. But he didn't think much about it. It was thought by the doctor initially to be asthma but it wouldn't go away and the inhaler he was given didn't help.

"At that time we had an isolated cottage in the Yorkshire Dales and we went up there for a break. He woke up one morning and he was dreadful. We went to a hospital there and a pint of fluid was removed from his lungs. I though he would get better after that but he didn't really.

"Then the investigations, x-rays and radiotherapy started."

Doctors later suspected that Roy might be suffering from mesothelioma . He remembered all the white dust from his work dismantling sheds in the 1950s and it is likely to be then that the deadly fibres were inhaled.

Jennifer added: "Roy never blamed anyone, there was no point. He just recalled not having any sense of danger in those times; it was all just in a days work. He always said it is not going to get me! He kept going to work, didn't complain. He never talked about dying and that kept me going, because he was alright, I was alright.

After 18 months of illness Roy Barratt died at home on September 15, 1993 at the age of 61. Prior to his death he became more and more breathless and weak but he did keep going for a surprisingly long while, retiring just two weeks before he died.

"They tell me this is what grief is like, it's almost relief at first, and then you get the anger and then the loneliness, which never really goes. But I have coped."

Roy never saw any of his grandchildren. When his son, Martin, had his first child he was quite upset because he wanted to tell his dad.

Jennifer added: "Looking to the future, I would urge the tradesmen to stop and think that it may affect you. Please report any material which you think may contain asbestos to be dealt with properly and ask questions, think about your health and ask your employers to ask questions.

"I have the four grandchildren now Emily, 13, George 12, Pierce, 11, Christian, 9, and I think that has been my salvation. We talk about Roy to them but they never met him.

"Please, just listen to me. Whatever you do,don't just think it won't happen to me. You should be aware that it can, and if you put yourself in the wrong circumstances it will."

Jennifer is now supporting the HSE's Hidden Killer campaign which seeks to raise awareness among tradesmen about the risks posed by asbestos.