BOC shares dive after jury decision

MORE than £340m was wiped from BOC's market value on Wednesday after a US jury linked the industrial gas group's welding products to the debilitating Parkinson's disease.

Amid fears the decision could spark a £40bn wave of claims, the shares plunged 68p to 821 1/2p.

In an Illinois court, 65-year-old welder Larry Elam claimed prolonged exposure to welding fumes caused his neurological disorder eight years ago.

Surrey-based BOC and two other makers of the welding rods at the centre of the case were ordered to pay £590,000 in damages.

BOC insisted the decision went against medical and scientific evidence and the findings of eight similar cases. It said: 'The company respectfully disagrees with the verdict and is confident it will prevail on appeal.'

BOC's Airco subsidiary - which it bought in 1978 - stopped making the welding rods in the mid-1980s.

But the City still believes as many as 700,000 US workers could mount a challenge. Lawyers have already invested millions of dollars prosecuting the welding claims