AN INQUEST was held last night into the death of one of Teesside's last "iron men".

Lawrence Barker, 90, of Stmp Cross, Guisborough, was an ironstone miner for 51 years - 42 spent underground.

A Middlesbrough inquest established that while he had silicosis as a result of his work he had heart disease, and suffered a heart attack.

Deputy Teesside Coroner Gordon Hetherington recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.