A WINCHESTER engineer died of asbestos-related cancer but the coroner could not be sure it was caused by worktime exposure to the deadly material.

Derek Boardman, 87, died in August of mesothelioma at home, an inquest heard.

The hearing in Winchester heard that Mr Boardman, of Birch Close, Colden Common, was an electrical engineer.

His son in law Graham Wingrove, of Lichen Way, Marchwood, said he may have been exposed to asbestos as a teenager while working in a wire factory, later during nation-al service in the Royal Engineers or while working for the Central Electricity Generating Board.

But assistant central Hampshire coroner Sarah Whitby said she could not be sure how he contracted the cancer and so recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.