A FORMER power station worker died after being exposed to asbestos, an inquest has found.

Ian McKay, of Andover Road, Winchester, started his career working at power stations in Scotland.

An inquest at Winchester Coroner’s Court was told that Mr McKay had an assessment with a respiratory clinic after he started feeling breathless.

It was found that he had “honeycomb scaring” on his lungs caused by asbestos.

Following his diagnosis, the 70-year-old wrote an account of his working life, which read that Mr McKay was taken on as a full-time planning engineer at a power station between 1970 and ’72.

He said: “[I was] looking at boilers and seeing what needed to be removed and what needed to be replaced.

“It was a dusty and dirty environment. I would be standing there and making notes.”

Mr McKay said that people would come in to remove the asbestos and “everyone would be covered in dust. At the end of the day you would shake out your overalls which would send dust flying”.

In his notes he said that on some occasions the asbestos sheets would be chucked at him as he was the youngest, this was called “monkey dust”.

Mr McKay wrote that he was not provided with anything other than a paper mask. He later moved into management and was mainly office based.

Senior coroner Christopher Wilkinson heard from pathologist Dr Adnan Al-Badri who said that the asbestos was the main cause of Mr McKay’s condition.

A post mortem found that the medical cause of death was cardio-respiratory failure, along with severe acute on chronic interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis and diffuse alveolar damage.

He also suffered from cardiomegaly and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Mr Wilkinson concluded that Mr McKay died on an industrial disease, adding: “Significant exposure [to asbestos] which had caused scaring of his lungs" which made him susceptible to infections.

In tribute to him, his family said: “Ian lived life in the fast lane, he had lots to give and plenty of energy. He never missed one day of work through illness. Ian’s character was colossal, larger than life! He was brave, courageous, generous, and compassionate. Supportive of others at all times – no matter what. Always fun, he was sometimes mischievous and could tell a good story!”