Asbestos caused the death of a Bucks man who worked in an Aylesbury factory for more than 40 years.

An inquest has been held into the death of John Gurney, after he passed away on May 14 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital at the age of 91.

Beaconsfield Coroners Court heard today (Thursday) how for the majority of Mr Gurney’s working life, he was employed at the former Hazell, Watson and Viney printing works in Tring Road, Aylesbury.

The printing and publishing factory was built in 1878 and closed down in 1991. A Tesco supermarket now stands in its place.

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Assistant coroner Ian Wade told the court how Mr Gurney’s exposure to asbestos while he was working at the factory was one of the causes of respiratory problems later in his life, and prevented him from fighting against the pneumonia he suffered with before he died.

He said: “He worked in a factory in Aylesbury in circumstances giving rise to his likely exposure to asbestos.

“A remarkable feature of exposure to and development of asbestos-related diseases is that one can be wholly unaware of the fact that it has happened.

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“These things might have happened in one’s youth, in their early working life, to be dormant until far later.

“These things come on late in life and one can say it’s a blessing that for John it only overwhelmed him in his 91st year.

“The fact that he was exposed to it in his younger days does not distract me from reaching a conclusion that the asbestos is a significant factor in his death.

“There isn’t anything else I can do. That factory has long disappeared.”

Mr Wade concluded that Mr Gurney died from industrial disease, with the causes of death pneumonia and asbestosis.