A WAR veteran who served in the Navy in the Second World War died after being exposed to asbestos, an inquest heard.

Bernard Livesey died in his Clitheroe home on February 18, just weeks after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer that develops in the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs.

The inquest at Blackburn Town Hall heard the 91-year-old was likely to have developed the cancer after he was exposed to asbestos while working in the Royal Navy during the 1940s and at chemical giant ICI, based in Clitheroe.

Mr Livesey, who left secondary school at the age of 14, served in the Royal Navy during the global conflict and travelled as far out as the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The vessels he sailed on contained high levels of asbestos, much of which was in the ship’s boiler rooms. The substance could then be transferred from sailor to sailor, particularly as they often shared bunks.

After Mr Livesey retired from the Navy he joined ICI, where he worked for more than 20 years. During that time he worked in heavy machined areas where the chemical lagged, the inquest heard.

Mr Livesey, who started out as a gardener at Hurst Green’s Stonyhurst Gardens, but took early retirement from the firm after he developed problems in his shoulder, lungs and heart.

His health began to rapidly deteriorate in 2017 due to the lung cancer and he battled with weight loss, reduced energy levels and dizziness.

The former pupil of St Joseph’s RC Primary School, Hurst Green, visited his GP and Dr Stephen Wilson, a consultant at Burnley General Hospital, on several occasions and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in December last year.

Weeks later Mr Livesey’s health deteriorated further and on the way back to bed on the morning of February 18 he began to feel dizzy, and died in his sleep.

Recording a conclusion of industrial disease, coroner James Newman said: “I’m satisfied he has been exposed to asbestos, either in the Navy or ICI. Mesothelioma is a very rare occurrence and entirely related to the exposure of asbestos.

“It can take up to 60 years to present itself but once it get there it’s aggressive and fatal and there is nothing that could be done.