A terminal cancer victim fears she contracted the disease after being exposed to asbestos while working at a school in Honley.

And now Kirklees Council are investigating her claims.

Lorraine Carter, a former cleaner and teaching assistant at Honley High School, is among a growing number of former school workers diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Almost 300 school teachers have died of the incurable disease since 1980, with 177 deaths in the last 14 years. Latest figures, for 2012, show 22 teachers died.

Mrs Carter, 62, worked at the school for 25 years. She believes she was regularly exposed to asbestos due to maintenance and building work at the school.

Mrs Carter also fears she may have been exposed to asbestos because of her husband Steven’s former job.

He was a works engineer with a dyeing company in the 1970s, and she remembers him coming home with his boiler suit covered in asbestos dust and fibres.

She recalls shaking the suit out before washing it, and fears she may have breathed in the deadly dust.

“The chance that my husband’s employment may also have led to my exposure to asbestos adds insult to injury.”

Mrs Carter said she was exposed to dirty and dusty environments at the school during the construction work, and was often asked to clean up afterwards.

The mother-of-two, who worked at the school from 1990 until earlier this year, said: “I feel that the public should know about the hidden dangers that could lead to mesothelioma and other terrible industrial diseases.

“I thought I was in a safe job but now I find I’m among a small but growing number of former school employees who find themselves with this terminal condition.

“I was given no warnings, training or information about the risks and dangers of potential asbestos exposure and had I known I would never have visited the school while construction work was going on.”

She is now hoping her former colleagues will come forward with information about working conditions.

She was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs, after first consulting her GP when she began to feel lethargic and could not stop coughing.

She has instructed expert asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell in Leeds, to investigate the exposure.

Nicola Handley, from Irwin Mitchell, said: “Mesothelioma is an aggressive and incurable cancer which has a significant impact on the lifestyle of those affected by it.

“The disease is usually associated with heavy industry, but we are seeing a growing number of women being diagnosed with the disease due to their own exposure to asbestos decades ago and indirect exposure because of their husband’s work.

“Lorraine and her husband Steven have understandably been left devastated by her diagnosis and have concerns about what the future will hold. The family also want answers about why and how she was exposed to asbestos.”

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “We received a claim on behalf of Mrs Carter in April, which will now be fully investigated.”

Anyone with information about the working conditions Lorraine was exposed to during her time working at Honley High School or the working conditions that Steven Carter would have worked in at Huddersfield Dyeing company should contact Nicola Handley on 0113 220 6233 or email Nicola.Handley@IrwinMitchell.com