AN engineer who worked all his life at factories in Lydney died from lung cancer with asbestos having been a contributory factor, an inquest has heard.

Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court was told that Derek Ratcliffe, 71, of High Street, Bream had been diagnosed with a tumour on his lungs just two weeks before he died at home in December 2021.

Pathologist Dr Terence Jones acknowledged that Mr Ratcliffe had a history of working alongside asbestos-based material and under examination he found substantial damage to his lung tissue with the tumour being consistent with exposure to the now banned building material.

Professor Kim Suvarna undertook additional fibre tests for asbestos but explained to the inquest that there was no asbestos fibre identified in the samples he had tested. He concluded that Mr Ratcliffe did not suffer from high level exposure to the material.

The pathologist’s cause of death was recorded as squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and asbestos exposure.

The inquest was told that Mr Ratcliffe started his working career at Watts Factors in Lydney in 1967 as a 16-year-old and completed his apprenticeship to become a heavy goods vehicle mechanic.

In 1975, Mr Ratcliffe then began working at Brico Metals and stayed with the company, which was later taken over by J D Norman, until he retired in 2018.

During his 43-year career with the metal working company, Mr Ratcliffe undertook a variety of roles as a maintenance fitter in all the site’s buildings. This included repairing the plant buildings, the machinery, pipework and any welding.

Tony Rudge, told the inquest that Mr Ratcliffe was one of his apprentices at Watts Factors and he undertook all types of work that included clutch repairs on vehicles and brakes linings as well a working on gearboxes and overhauling engines.

He said: “Work of this type 50 years ago was carried out very differently to the standards required today. There were no face masks or other protective gloves to prevent dust particles entering your body.

“The only item we had was a pair of overalls, which was laundered once a week.”

Kim Roberts told the inquest that had worked with Mr Ratcliffe at Brico and that they had been employed as millwrights, a job title that evolved over time in them becoming maintenance fitters.

He said: “The plant consisted of several buildings, including the foundry which housed the furnace and the machine shop. All of the factory buildings contained asbestos in the form of corrugated cladding sheets.

“When the old foundry and stock yard were demolished, they were supposed to have been taken sheet by sheet, however the company doing this work demolished it with the aid of a digger. Health and Safety officials visited the site the next day.

“The platform on top of the furnaces was made with boards that contained asbestos. Other pipe work throughout the site had been insulated with spray on asbestos, which would flake when things were hung on them.

“The employees regularly made complaints to the company over the inherent risk of to health from asbestos. An outside company was later brought in to remove the offending material.”

Roland Wooderson, the assistant coroner for Gloucestershire, recorded a narrative conclusion: “Mr Ratcliffe died at home on December 7, 2021.

“The post-mortem concluded that Mr Ratcliffe’s cause of death was a form of lung cancer and asbestos exposure.”