A FATHER'S lifelong work as an aircraft fitter led to his death at the age of 80, an inquest heard.

Father-of-three Raymond James, of Chandos Road, Lightpill, Stroud, died at home last December from lung conditions caused by his exposure to asbestos while working in planes, Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore ruled.

Mr James's widow, Barbara, said he was an aircraft fitter all his life and retired at 64.

He was a very active man who loved rambling in the Lake District and walked about six miles a day at home, she said.

He also maintained their garden and a number of neighbours' gardens, she added.

Mrs James said he had worked for an armaments firm in Coventry during the Second World War and then served in the Army, including the tank regiment, until 1951.

From 1954 to 1983 he was employed by British Aerospace and then from 1983 to 1992 at the airbase in Kemble by the Ministry of Defence.

His job was to strip out aircraft and rebuild them, said Mrs James. He would remove lagging and boarding from planes and was often in a dusty environment.

His health started going downhill between 18 and 24 months before his death, she said.

In a letter to the coroner, Ian Moore, a solicitor representing British Aerospace, said: "We know from other cases that asbestos and components containing asbestos fibre were used in the manufacture of aircraft for thermal insulation and for gaskets and seals. It was also used in engine and fuel systems."

The inquest heard Mr James' visited hospital suffering from breathlessness and chest infections in the months before his death.

He was treated with steroids and oxygen.

Pathologist Dr Linmarie Ludeman said she found at the post-mortem that his lungs were 'very abnormal' with severe fibrosis and bilateral bronchopneumonia. There was evidence of asbestosis and tests showed he had 49,320 mineral fibres per gram of dry lung tissue.

Giving the cause of death as bronchopneumonia in the lungs with end-stage pulmonary fibrosis and asbestosis, she said she believed the condition was caused by asbestos exposure.

Mr Crickmore said: "I am satisfied from the evidence of Mrs James and the letter from British Aerospace that it is more likely than not that while working as an aircraft fitter for a long period of time he would have been exposed to asbestos.

"I am satisfied his development of pulmonary fibrosis and asbestosis arose as a result of exposure and that the broncho-pneumonia was a result of those."