AN inquest into the death of a man believed to have been the subject of secret tests conducted at Porton Down in the 1950s, has been provisionally set for the last week of September.

Permission was given for the inquest into 20-year-old RAF mechanic Ronald Maddison's death to be reopened following a lengthy police investigation into claims that military personnel were duped into taking part in trials of hazardous substances.

Codenamed operation Antler, the four-year inquiry has amassed such a large body of paperwork and identified so many people who want to tell their stories that a pre-inquest review held in Tisbury last week was unable to conclude its business in a single day.

Two further administrative hearings have been scheduled in July and August simply to enable Wiltshire coroner David Masters to deal with legal and paperwork formalities.

Mr Maddison died in 1953. His family has always maintained that he was exposed to nerve gas at Porton Down after volunteering to be a test subject on the understanding that he would not be in any danger.

An inquest held at Porton Down shortly after Mr Maddison's death recorded a verdict of misadventure.

But a successful appeal to quash the verdict was lodged on the grounds of "the insufficiency of the original inquiry and the discovery of new facts and evidence."

Mr Maddison is one of several people who claim they were test subjects at Porton in the 50s and 60s.

A large number of witness statements will be admitted before the fresh inquest, which it is estimated will take up to eight weeks to reach a verdict.

The next pre-inquest hearing will take place on July 25 in the former Magistrates Court, Tisbury, beginning at 10am.