A FORMER scrap metal worker who died following a life exposed to asbestos contracted cancer in the final weeks of his life, an inquest heard.
The hearing heard how the family of Kenneth Ridge, 79, of Manchester Road, Burnley, were never told he had cancer.
Mr Ridge, who also served in the Royal Navy after leaving school, died on June 1. Dr Alexander Howat , a pathologist at Burnley General Hospital, said the lung tumour developed quickly, growing in a matter of days or weeks before death. Mr Ridge had small cell cancer which was not related to the exposure of asbestos. East Lancashire Coroner Richard Taylor, told the hearing at Burnley Magistrates Court: "He was exposed to asbestos throughout his working life, although it wasn't that that killed him, it was the small cell cancer." Verdict: Death by natural causes.
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