ONE of Britain’s biggest hidden killers has claimed the lives of two more York men.

Coroner Donald Coverdale ruled that mesothelioma was the cause of death for two city workers after hearing how they had both been exposed to the deadly asbestos dust over the course of their careers.

They are among scores of York men, including about 100 former York Carriageworks employees, who have suffered an early death as a result of the disease.

Earlier this week, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a fresh campaign, warning of the continuing dangers of exposure to asbestos.

In one of two asbestos-related inquests this week, Mr Coverdale heard how Robert Michael Smith, of Holgate, had been exposed to asbestos over 46 years as a painter and decorator with local firm Dodsworth’s, in Micklegate, before dying at the age of 64 in June last year.

In a statement written before his death and read to the court, Mr Smith said he had worked for Dodsworth’s for all bar six weeks between 1959 and 2005.

He said the firm was a good employer and he had received an award for his long-service.

He said the firm had many commercial and private contracts, including some work on schools, which involved working in boiler rooms alongside other tradesmen, without protective masks, and said he had often been involved in sweeping up where there was asbestos dust.

He said: “On routine jobs, I can remember sanding down flat asbestos sheets that were then used.”

Mr Coverdale said: “Nowadays, there is perhaps more realisation of the dangers of asbestos and protection is perhaps given more routinely.

“During Mr Smith’s working life, there may have been an absence of precautionary measures such as masks. The verdict I record is that Robert Michael Smith died from an industrial disease of mesothelioma.”

On the same day, Mr Coverdale also recorded the same verdict after an inquest into David John Watson, of Russet Drive, Burnholme, a 72-year-old former employee of York Carriageworks, who had also suffered prolonged exposure to asbestos.

Scores of former employees of the site developed the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma over the past four decades, after breathing in the deadly dust while working.