A HAMPSHIRE man died as a result of asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking, an inquest heard.

Raymond Tizard, of Sandringham Road, Bittern Park, was employed by Brazier and Son for about 25 years.

After carrying out demolition work in the city, the court heard that he would return home to his wife Valerie.

“I could not wash his overalls because the dust was caked on. I have had to have an x-ray too,” she told the hearing at Winchester on Wednesday (June 12).

The inquest was also told that Mr Tizard had been a heavy smoker.

He spent the last week of his life at Countess Mountbatten Hospital, West End, and died on March 19, aged 73.

Grahame Short, coroner for central Hampshire, recorded a verdict of death due to industrial disease.

He said: “It’s clear that he was exposed to asbestos while he was working and in light of the pathologist’s findings, I record a verdict of death due to industrial disease. He died due to non-small cell lung carcinoma due to exposure to asbestos and cigarette smoking.”