EXPOSURE to asbestos for a four-year period in the 1970s eventually caused the death of a Stourport man earlier this month.

An inquest at Stourbridge County Court heard Gordon Maiden, 66, died in the GP Unit at Kidderminster Hospital on November 4 of the industrial disease mesothelioma.

His death "was not a surprise because of the medical circumstances", said Worcestershire coroner Victor Round.

Kidderminster coroner's officer Michael Richards said Mr Maiden had first complained of shortness of breath in October 1999 and had been diagnosed with the disease following an x-ray.

A compensation claim has already been made and settled against his former employers, Morgan Thermal Design of Stourport, where he worked from 1971 until 1975.

Mr Maiden leaves a wife Barbara. Mr Round recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease, without a post mortem, based on the evidence.