A PENSIONER suffered a heart attack and collapsed as he spoke to a neighbour and her child.

The 11-year-old ran to a surgery to get aid as his mother tried to help 80-year-old Tony Rambow when he collapsed at his front door in Saltburn's Bristol Avenue.

An inquest in Middlesbrough heard the retired industrial chemist was exposed to asbestos while working on the construction of an ICI Phthalic Anhydride plant in Billingham in the late 1950s.

His daughter told Deputy Teesside Coroner Gordon Hetherington: "It was a hands-on job and there was a lot of problems with it (the plant). They had to keep dismantling apparatus, which involved removing asbestos lagging."

She said her father feared his exposure to asbestos would lead to health complications, and he was diagnosed by his GP as suffering from a medical condition associated with asbestos exposure.

A post-mortem examination found that while Mr Rambow's fibre count was no greater than in the general population, he had a progressive heart condition.

A verdict of death from natural causes was recorded.