A FIREFIGHTER'S wife could have died from inhaling asbestos fibres while washing her husband's work clothes.

An inquest heard that mother-of-two Kathleen Thompson, 54, was not exposed to asbestos in her work as a clerk, but frequently washed her husband Alan's dust-covered kit.

Mr Thompson said in a statement read to the inquest that he used to spend a lot of time in the basement of Middlesbrough fire station, where there was a large pipe lagged in asbestos, and where firefighters hung their jackets and overalls.

He said he remembered reporting to bosses that lagging had burst open on the pipe, while he said firefighters would sweep up absestos that fell on the basement floor. He also told the inquest he came into contact with asbestos dust carrying out his job fighting fires.

In a statement made before she died on May 29, Mrs Thompson said she had been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma.

Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield said her husband's clothes probably came into contact with asbestos.

Mr Thompson, 56, said after the inquest: "Me and my two daughters and the rest of the family are devastated at her loss. She is going to be missed for ever and ever. In our eyes she is irreplaceable. There will never be another one like her."

He said their daughters, Nicola Thompson, 33, and Angela Gribbon, 26, thought the world of their mother.

Mr Thompson is still serving with the fire brigade, though he is now based at Grangetown.

He said: "She has left a massive void. I would not wish it on my worst enemy, something like this. We miss her so much, we really do."

Mrs Thompson died in Teesside Hospice, in Middlesbrough, from broncho-pneumonia due to malignant mesothelioma.

The inquest recorded a verdict of death from misadventure