A FORMER harbourmaster who died at the Joseph Weld Hospice in Dorchester had a history of asbestos exposure, an inquest was told.

Derek Alan Watson died on March 10 at the age of 82 from a pulmonary edema and bronchial pneumonia caused by mesothelioma, a disease commonly attributed to asbestos exposure.

An inquest into his death at County Hall in Dorchester heard that Mr Watson worked from the age of 22 to 23 at a garden nursery in Buckinghamshire, where he was exposed to asbestos as he constructed boilers and conservatories.

Dr Gerrard Phillips, a respiratory consultant at Dorset County Hospital, said Mr Watson was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2009 after experiencing abdominal problems since 2006.

Coroner’s officer Andrew Nineham said that Mr Watson’s son Douglas had informed him of his father’s employment history.

He said as a young man Mr Watson worked at a nursery in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, where he insulated the boilers by plastering on asbestos.

West Dorset coroner Michael Johnston said: “It is clear from the background history that Mr Watson had erected his greenhouses and installed the boilers and had himself lagged these using dry asbestos.

“He appears to have both inhaled and probably swallowed the asbestos fibres.

“Many years later, approximately 50 years, he has developed this cancer which in a very high proportion of cases is attributable to asbestos exposure.”

Mr Johnston recorded a verdict that Mr Watson died from an industrial disease.