Assistant postmaster died from breathing in asbestos

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ASSISTANT postmaster Keith Stiley died after breathing in asbestos dust at work at the former post office in Cheltenham's Promenade, an inquest heard.

During his working life he had no idea he was in any danger, but after he retired a former colleague told him the building had been completely sealed up while asbestos lagging pipes in the basement was removed.

Mr Stiley, of Cleveland Avenue, Cheltenham, died at the Sue Ryder Hospice in Leckhampton in March last year at the age of 84. Deputy coroner David Dooley heard that during his work Mr Stiley would make three or four visits a day to the basement of the post office – a former hotel – where many pipes were lagged with flaking and broken asbestos.

Mr Stiley's daughter Carolyn Smart told the hearing at the Seasons Conference Centre in Cheltenham that her father had been deputy postmaster for Cheltenham and postmaster at Cinderford.

She said: "From 1947 to 1985 he worked his way up from messenger boy to assistant postmaster. He was in good health apart from an irregular heartbeat until he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma at Hartlands Hospital in Birmingham in March 2009.

"He believed he came into contact with it (asbestos) while working in the basement at the post office in Cheltenham, where asbestos lagging on pipework was in poor condition."

She said her father made a claim against the post office and was awarded more than £11,000. Mr Stiley's health deteriorated throughout 2009 and after he was admitted to hospital on March 2 last year, he was transferred to the Sue Ryder Hospice where he died a few days later. He made a statement in support of his claim in which he said he had to go down to the basement at the Promenade post office three or four times every day.

"There was loose lagging on the pipes and dust in the atmosphere. The whole place was very dusty and there was no ventilation and no windows," he said.

The claim also included statements from colleagues Mr Stiley had worked with who confirmed the presence of asbestos in the basement.

The inquest was told that there had been a low count of asbestos fibres found in Mr Stiley's lungs in a postmortem examination, but mesothelioma had previously been seen in the local area with similar low counts. He had died from a blood clot on the lung brought on by the cancer.

Summing up, Mr Dooley said mesothelioma was invariably connected with asbestos and with a 31-year history of going into the post office basement, he could say the disease arose because of and during his employment. He recorded a verdict of death from an industrial disease.

After the hearing, a spokesman for Royal Mail Group said: "We would not wish to comment as there is continuing legal activity around this case."