By Dan Vevers,John Ferguson

Copyright dailyrecord

Workers who believe they were exposed to asbestos on sites run by one of Scotland’s biggest house builders have vowed to sue. It comes after Springfield Properties was ordered to pay a whistleblower £558,000 in a landmark court ruling in August. Martin McGowan, 63, sued the firm after it obtained a gagging order against him over his claims that deadly dust had been buried under housing estates across Scotland. The groundworks subcontractor said he and his team were told to unwittingly tear down buildings full of asbestos before using the material as backfill on new build estates. The firm also paid a £10,000 fine after admitting breaking asbestos-related safety laws at a building site in Milton of Campsie, East Dunbartonshire. Now McGowan’s former workers are demanding renewed probes into the company from both the Health and Safety Executive and SEPA. Furious Martin McGowan Jr, 34, who was employed by his dad, said: “I sat through my dad’s court case and my jaw was on the floor at times listening to the evidence. “We were sent in there to work on the site at Milton of Campsie without any training or protection despite the fact there was clear dangers. “HSE and SEPA now have to completely reopen this investigation and get to the bottom of what happened at all of these Springfield sites.” The dad of two added: “Myself and the other workers are not going to just go away and I think that Springfield need to know that. “We have never even received an apology as things stand. “A starting point would be for them to meet with us and to take on board the facts of the matter now recorded in court. “When I contacted them they asked me to send them whatever evidence that I had in my possession. “But when my dad did that he had sheriff officers at his door within 24 hours serving him with a gagging order.” Springfield – based in Elgin, Moray – builds about 1000 properties a year. The firm gave £100,000 to the SNP between 2015 and 2016. There have been allegations of cronyism following a string of unrecorded meetings between the firm’s executives and senior Holyrood ministers. The firm’s chairman and founder Sandy Adam received an OBE last year. The Sunday Mail previously revealed Martin Sr’s claims that Springfield knew about the asbestos. But that they let the staff work on deserve contaminated sites as well as spreading the dangerous material around the country. The court heard the firm had taken out an interdict to stop Martin Sr repeating damaging claims – a move he argued led to him being blacklisted in the building sector. The order was lifted after Springfield was fined £10,000 for breaching health and safety laws in relation to alleged asbestos at Milton of Campsie. Martin Sr said: “I have won my case but the other workers deserve justice too and I am standing by them.” HSE believes asbestos kills 5000 workers a year – greater than the figure for deaths on roads. About 20 tradespeople die each week as a result of historic exposure. Health and safety pressure groups Scottish Hazards and Action on Asbestos have voiced concerns over the Springfield case.