Southern Electricity Board bosses did not advise electrician Michael Mc-Donald to wear a protective mask or clothing during his many years of working with asbestos in the 1960s and 70s, an inquest heard.

His regular exposure to the material during his work in the Swindon area ultimately caused his death from the lung cancer mesothelioma.

Cotswold Coroner Lester Madrell recorded a verdict that Mr McDonald, 51, of Churchside Cottage, Cerney Wick, near Cricklade, died from industrial disease.

A statement from Mr McDonald himself, which he made to his solicitor shortly before his death in May this year, was read to the inquest in Tewkesbury, Glos.

In it he said that it was only in the last five to ten years that his employers had made any real point of advising electricians to wear protective clothing and masks.

"For 15 to 20 years I would come into contact with asbestos on a weekly basis," said Mr McDonald in the statement. He said he would find the material in business and domestic premises where he worked. Often it disintegrated into dust when he came into contact with it.

More recently, electricians doing the same work would put plastic tents around asbestos components and wear respirators, masks and protective clothing before removing them.

Mr McDonald's widow Lynne said he first became ill late last year with a pain in the left side of the chest and back. A chest x-ray in November revealed he had a serious problem and by the end of the year he was diagnosed with an asbestos related tumour.

She nursed him at home where he died in May this year, a month after his employers, now called SEC, retired him on ill health grounds.

A letter from SEC to the inquest confirmed that electricians had come frequently into contact with asbestos in the years before its dangers were realised.

The coroner recording his verdict said: "Mesothelioma is a dreadful disease for which the only known cause is asbestos."