A HAMPSHIRE man died of asbestos-related cancer, an inquest heard.

Raymond Lucas, of Shaw Close, Totton, died of a malignant mesothelioma aged 89 at Countess Mountbatten House hospice, West End, on March 16.

The inquest in Winchester heard medical tests found no evidence of asbestos but Mr Lucas would have been exposed to asbestos during the Second World War when he checked for incendiary bombs in buildings.

The substance was also found in early television sets that he worked on in his career as an electrical engineer.

Deputy coroner for Central Hampshire Simon Burge said: “Given the likelihood from his occupational history that Mr Lucas was working with asbestos I am going to return a verdict of death due to an industrial disease.”