Patrick Browne, 90, died at his home in Arundel Close, Pevensey Bay, on December 12 last year, a year and a half after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer almost always caused by exposure to asbestos.

He had been involved in a High Court action to try and get compensation for his illness, which coroner Alan Craze agreed had been caused by his job.

Mr Browne, who was born in Ireland, worked at the Birds Eye factory in Lottbridge Drove from 1966 until his retirement in 1983, on the production line making arctic rolls.

The inquest heard he monitored the ovens, removing cooked sponges from them, constantly wearing gloves known as 'asbestos gloves', which he believed contained the toxic fibres, and with no mask to protect him.

The gloves became worn and pulled apart, constantly having to be replaced, which could have caused him to inhale particles of asbestos.

He also believed the ovens were lined with asbestos insulation.

Mr Browne, who may also have been exposed to asbestos earlier in his life at a car factory in Cowley, Oxford, lived in Spain for 20 years and returned to Eastbourne to live with his son and daughter-in-law in Arundel Close last February.

The cause of his death was said to be bronchial pneumonia, caused by mesothelioma, due to asbestos exposure.

A coronary atheroma, the furring up of coronary arteries, was a contributory factor.

The coroner recorded a verdict of death by industrial disease.