Cancer woman 'played in asbestos'

Ellen Paddock died in July of an asbestos related cancer

A woman who died from lung cancer played as a child in ashes "like they were snow" after a fire at a building containing asbestos, an inquest heard.

Ellen Paddock, 31, believed her cancer was a result of the blaze at the MoD base near her home in Donnington, Shropshire, in 1983.

Her father, Alan Bush, said she caught some of the ashes in her mouth.

The MoD board of inquiry report into the fire is to form part of the evidence at the ongoing inquest.

A consultant pathologist told the hearing the odds of her tumour forming without the presence of asbestos were a "million to one".

Regulations different

Paul Raymond, deputy chief fire officer with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, told the inquest that the ash debris was scattered over a 15-mile radius in the Telford area.

But he said safety regulations that now govern asbestos were not in place 25 years ago.

In a written report, Dr. R.M. Rudd, a specialist consultant, said it was "highly likely" that Ms Paddock's illness was caused by exposure to asbestos.

He said it could have occurred as a result of the Donnington fire or, earlier in her life, when her father worked on the manufacture of brake pads at the Rubery Owen plant in Wrexham.

A preliminary inquest hearing was told Ms Paddock, who had started legal action against the MoD, died of broncho-pneumonia and an asbestos-related cancer last July.

The hearing continues.