SCOTS whose lives were blighted by hepatitis C as a result of contaminated NHS blood products have called for a public apology and financial compensation for surviving victims.

Testimonies gathered by the Penrose Inquiry into the scandal reveal how one woman lost her mother to the disease following a contaminated blood transfusion while giving birth in 1974. She lost the infant despite the transfusion, and her own health suffered.

The woman, named only as "Bridie", said: "The anger never goes away. These blood transfusions saved my mother's life at the time, but the blood she was given cut her life short.

"I feel like I didn't really get to know my mum properly. My brother, sister and I feel cheated.

"To see someone you love go through such pain is an experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. It was hard."

Bridie's mother was eventually diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1996, after an operation to remove her gallbladder found she had liver cirrhosis.

The Inquiry, conducted by Lord Penrose, was set up in 2008 following a campaign for answers to a scandal which saw hundreds of patients and haemophiliacs infected with hepatitis C and HIV through contaminated blood and blood products used in NHS hospitals in the 1970s and 80s.

Patrick McGuire, solicitor for the victims, said: "This is a tragedy that has devastated lives and exposed serious failings."