Legal Action Launched Over Legionnaires' Outbreak

Families affected by the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Edinburgh in which four people died are pursuing civil action against two firms they believe are responsible.

The exact source of the bug has never been confirmed but lawyers have lodged claims against pharmaceutical company Macfarlan Smith and North British Distillery.

NHS Lothian has published its final report into the May 2012 incident, stating that it is likely to have come from an industrial complex containing wet cooling towers.

A total of 56 confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease and 36 probable and possible cases were linked to the situation.

The confirmed cases included Bert Air, Sean Ferguson, John Lonnie and Sylvia Riddell, who died after contracting the disease.

The Crown Office has previously said that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute any person or organisation for the deaths as it has not been possible to identify the precise source.

Specialist law firm Irwin Mitchell Scotland said it had lodged cases on behalf of 30 victims.

Elaine Russell, a lawyer at the firm, said: "While it is important that the response from NHS Lothian is acknowledged, we are still pushing the authorities for answers about what caused the outbreak.

"Three years ago several people lost their lives and almost 100 suffered from Legionnaires ' disease, yet the authorities seem no closer to identifying the source of the outbreak.''