A RETIRED railway wor-ker died from the Swindon cancer, mesothelioma, an inquest heard.

Derek Evans, 66, of Common Platt, Purton, died on March 12 this year.

A post mortem carried out by consultant patholo-gist Dr Janet Armstrong found that he had died of heart failure caused by a combination of the chronic obstructive disorder and asbestos related lung disease, mesothelioma.

Assistant Wiltshire coroner Nigel Brookes concluded that the asbestos contamination was a contributory factor.

Mr Evans worked in the Railway Works from 1955 to 1962 and subsequently from 1975 to 1986, the hearing was told yesterday.

Written evidence from Mr Evans explained his work as a coach builder involved daily exposure to asbestos dust.

One of his jobs was to scrape off excess asbestos from the inside of engines once they had been sprayed.

During the period from 1955 to 1962, he was offered no protection.

When he later worked for British Rail from 1975, pro-cedures had been tightened up with workers who dealt with asbestos being issued with breathing apparatus.

However, Mr Evans claimed he was never told of the dangers of inhaling asbestos dust.

Mr Evans' widow Bar-bara explained how her husband's health had deter-iorated since 1995.

Her husband complained of breathing difficulties and as his condition got worse, he had to rely on an oxygen supply.

A statement from former work colleague, Leslie Smith, also confirmed Mr Evans had been exposed to asbestos more often than many of his colleagues.

A verdict of death by industrial disease was recorded.

Mesothelioma the disease caused by asbestos dust has been dubbed the Swindon cancer because of the number of sufferers in the town. This is a legacy of Swindon's railway works when asbestos was widely used from the 1950s to line engines and carriages.

Mesothelioma, which is incurable, is a cancer of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos.