A MAN who moved from Wales to work on the Swindon railways died after being exposed to asbestos.

Idris Lapham was 16 when he started work as a carriage and wagon examiner on the railway works.

He retired in 1991 and in October last year he died of an illness brought on by regular exposure to asbestos.

The asbestos had resulted in him suffering from deep vein thrombosis which ultimately led to his death.

An inquest into his death heard that Mr Lapham's job meant he regularly had to check brakes and pipes that were lined with asbestos.

His son Tom, from Chippenham, told the coroner had his father would come home from work covered in the deadly dust.

"We used to tease him and say he had dandruff because he was always covered in white dust.

"We didn't know it was asbestos at the time," he said.

Dr Darko Lazic, who carried out the post-mortem at the Great Western Hospital, said the DVT caused a pulmonary thromboembolism that killed Mr Lapham.

Wiltshire coroner David Masters recorded a verdict of industrial death, saying: "Clearly he died from an industrial disease because it stems from the exposure to asbestos over a very long working period as a wagon and carriage examiner at the works.

"It was exposure to asbestos in the work place over a considerable period of time.