Campaigners and MPs are demanding the government invest more in asbestos cancer research.

More than 20,000 people have signed a petition seeking the establishment of a specialist research centre.

According to Activists mesothelioma, caused by asbestos exposure, is the least researched of the UK's top 20 cancers. Mesothelioma is a relatively rare but an invariably fatal tumor found in the surface of the lung. It is difficult to treat because of its location and also because of its bad response to chemotherapy.

It, for the most part, affects those who worked with the heatproof material, which was used widely in construction until the 1980s.

"Funding at present is woefully inadequate - it's among the worst resourced fields in cancer research," said John Edwards, consultant thoracic surgeon and chair of the British Mesothelioma Interest Group.

"We need a radically different approach. We have to accept that we are seeing an explosion in cases and that there's no guarantee they will suddenly start to tail off."