HE lost more than 20 former York carriageworks colleagues to the asbestos timebomb over the years – and always feared he would be next.

Now hundreds of mourners have packed York Crematorium for the funeral of 64-year-old Arnie “Tivvy” Gomersall after he too fell victim to the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma.

They heard a church minister hit out at the “absolute scandal” of the way hundreds of workers at the factory in Holgate Road were exposed over the years to deadly asbestos dust.

The Reverend Matt Woodcock, a family friend, said he last saw Tivvy about a week before he died, when he looked thin and frail and was in obvious pain.

“He told me that he felt a deep sense of anger at his situation,” he said. “Tivvy is one of hundreds of men who have died because of exposure to asbestos dust at the carriageworks.

“It is an absolute scandal that they were never told of its dangers or given protection from it, when the powers that be knew – or should have known – how deadly it was. So it’s no wonder that Tivvy was angry – he had every right to be. He also wasn’t afraid of speaking out about the scandal to anyone who’d listen.”

He said it was a “mark of the man” that Tivvy, who played drums with York-based Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band, Aynt Skynyrd, and another band, Stealer, had raised thousands of pounds for York’s asbestos support group through benefit gigs.

Mr Woodcock said Tivvy had truly lived life to the full. Aside from his wife Jane and his family, it had been dominated by his three great passions – karate, rock music and motorbikes.

Tivvy was an instructor and chairman of Kenshinkan Karate Club. His coffin was taken on a motorcycle sidecar to the funeral, at which tributes were also paid by close friends Ian Tate and Mike Sawyer.

Tivvy told The Press in 2008 how, when he started a 33-year career at the carriageworks in 1963, he had no idea of the dangers he was about to be exposed to. He said he chiselled out asbestos from carriages, with dust “flying everywhere” and no one wearing masks.

“He said he feared the worst every time he caught a cold. “It’s always on my mind.”

His widow Jane said yesterday she had been amazed by the number of people attending the funeral, believed to be one of the largest attendances at the crematorium in recent years, at which almost £1,800 had been donated – with the money to be divided between the York asbestos support group and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.