A 50-YEAR-OLD man died after developing a tumour on his lungs which is likely to have been caused by his job working with asbestos.

An inquest heard how Geoffrey Wilde, of Wigan Road, Westhoughton, died in August.

The father-of-two had been exposed to both raw and manufactured asbestos during his apprenticeship at Turner Brothers in Hindley Green, which closed in the 1980s.

Despite having left the company in 1970, Mr Wilde had been in daily contact with the deadly substance for three years and medical reports concluded he had probably become ill because of exposure to asbestos.

Bolton coroner Jen Leeming recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease and said: "I have no doubt at all that his death was caused by exposure to asbestos."

After the inquest his widow Susan Wilde said that her family hoped to pursue a compensation claim, but had received a letter from a solicitor informing them that the parent company of Turner Brothers, T&N Co, had filed for bankruptcy on October 1 and was not covered for asbestos claims.

Mrs Wilde said: "We have got no idea what will happen now.

"Hopefully we will get some money eventually, but it is not about the money because nothing can bring him back.

"He only became ill in January this year and was very angry that the asbestos had caused the illness.

"He always suspected it would lead to health problems for him."