A FORMER cleaner from Bridport who worked in a civic hall in the West Midlands for 15 years died of an asbestos-related disease, an inquest was told.

Dora Longville, of West Walks, West Bay, died at the age of 66 in May from mesothelioma.

An inquest into her death at County Hall in Dorchester was told that from 1990 to 2005 she worked at Brierley Hill Civic Hall and also worked at the police station, which shared the same building, for a year back in 1974. Her husband David Longville said before she had started working at the Civic Hall he was told there had been an extensive clear out of asbestos and there was a large amount of building work going on while she was there.

A statement from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council said: “Whilst there is some evidence of asbestos-containing materials in the building, there is nothing to suggest that Mrs Longville was exposed to it.”

Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne said, in the absence of any evidence that she had been exposed to asbestos outside work, he believed that she had come into contact with the material during her time at work.

He said: “I think that on balance she must have been exposed to asbestos during the course of her employment at possibly both the police station and the Civic Hall in Brierley Hill.”

Mr Payne recorded a verdict of death due to an industrial disease.