A GRIEVING widow is warning builders to protect themselves against asbestos, after an inquest ruled it caused her husband’s death.

Bolton Coroners Court heard Cyril Jennings worked with the deadly material during his career as an engineer.

He became ill in 2009 and was diagnosed with mesothelioma, cancer in the membrane that lines the lungs and chest. The disease is related to exposure to asbestos in the vast majority of cases.

Mr Jennings died at the Royal Bolton Hospital at the age of 63 on April 4 this year.

His wife, Jennifer, aged 61, speaking after the inquest said: “I don’t think people realise that asbestos kills. I implore any builder to make sure they wear protective clothing and masks.

“You just don’t know where asbestos is, it is still in buildings now.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

The inquest heard Mr Jennings, of Churchill Drive, Little Lever, spent the majority of his working life as an engineer in laboratories at a factory in Chadderton, which became part of BAE Systems.

In a statement made before his death he described handling tubes made of asbestos in a greenhouse near where he worked, which were part of experiments with different metals.

The exposure amounted to a couple of times a week, over several years, as he helped change things over during the tests.

The post mortem examination found the cause of his death to be a blood clot, caused by the asbestosrelated cancer.

The court heard medical evidence that any cancer can make the blood thicken, making it more susceptible to clotting, which can cause sudden death when an artery becomes blocked.

Deputy coroner Alan Walsh recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease.

Mrs Jennings added: “My husband was fantastic. He was a wonderful man, a real character and such a gentleman.”