LIFE aboard a mine-sweeper during the Second World War could have ultimately led to the death of a 77-year-old Radcliffe man.

Retired clerk Mr George Crook, of Arley Street, had been a petty officer on a Navy mine-sweeper, working in the engine room, an inquest was told.

Deputy Bury District Coroner Mr Matthew Cox, who opened the hearing, was also told that Mr Crook had worked in a paper mill.

Coroner's officer Mr Geoff Cave, said it was possible Mr Crook may have been in contact with asbestos in either one or both of those occupations.

Mr Crook died at home on May 22 and he had been diagnosed as suffering from mesothelioma, the cancer often associated with contact with asbestos, and one which has a latency period of between 20 and 30 years before the malignant tumour takes its lethal toll.

Giving evidence of identification, civil servant Mrs Linda Routledge, of Fisherfields, Norden, Rochdale, said her Radcliffe-born father, who is survived by his wife, had been waiting for 12 months to have his condition investigated and it was in November last year that mesothelioma was diagnosed. Mr Crook had made no claim when he died from the cancer.

Mr Cox accordingly adjourned the hearing pending a full medical report.