REMOVING asbestos from school buildings in Cheltenham during the 1970s resulted in the death of a retired builder, a coroner has ruled.

Grandfather-of-four John Partridge, 74, died on December 30 last year.

A post-mortem showed he died from pneumonia resulting from fibrosis, which was caused by asbestos exposure, and his heavy smoking in the past.

Tests showed he had 33,454 asbestos fibres in each gram of his dry lung tissue. A report into his death showed that during his career Mr Partridge, of Griffiths Avenue in Cheltenham, had worked for the local council and his duties included drilling into asbestos sheeting.

His daughter Gina Partridge told the inquest that he had mentioned to her that he came into contact with asbestos at work.

"In the late 1970s and early 1980s he worked for Cheltenham Borough Council," she said.

"He would often say he had removed asbestos from ceilings and partitions in schools. He had taken down schools which contained asbestos parts.

"The parts would be swept up and put in trucks, which he drove."

In the past he had also worked for Tewkesbury Borough Council as a refuse truck driver and for a coal merchant, she said.

Until 14 years ago he had smoked up to 100 cigarettes a day, but then gave up completely.

Ms Patridge said her father, who had three great-grandchildren, had been admitted to hospital a number of times over the years with lung problems.

On December 27 last year he was taken to hospital with pneumonia and his condition deteriorated and he died three days later.

Deputy assistant coroner Tom Osbourne said: "On the balance of probabilities I am satisfied that the cause of the fibrosis which led to pneumonia was exposure to asbestos during his working life."

Verdict: Industrial disease.