TWO men who were exposed to asbestos during their working lives died as a result, Teesside Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Inquests into the deaths of Norman Beddard, of Greens Lane, Stockton, and John Shanks, of Costwold Crescent, Billingham, resulted in Coroner Michael Sheffield recording verdicts of death due to industrial diseases.

Mr Beddard died on July 1, last year, aged 75. A retired shift foreman, he had worked with asbestos at ICI Billingham in the 1940s.

His wife, Ada Beddard, 74, told the court he had never been given protective clothing or been warned about asbestos fibres.

Mr Shanks died on August 28, last year, aged 62. He worked with asbestos as a shipwright for a number of shipbuilding companies in the North-East during the late 1950s.

His son, Graham Shanks, 34, of Elvington Close, Billingham, said his father had told him he used to eat his lunch sitting on bags of the material.

Consultant pathologist Dr Christopher Rettman said that as a result of exposure to asbestos, the men developed diseases in their lungs which killed them.