A GRANDFATHER died from exposure to asbestos within three years of marrying his new love.

Colin Shearings’ widow has spoken of her heartbreak after losing the man she’d waited 40 years to meet.

The 67-year-old auditor died from mesothelioma earlier this year and his family are trying to establish where he came into contact with the deadly asbestos that caused it.

He had worked at Alliance & Leicester in Hove Park, Hove, in the early 1990s, when building work was being carried out.

The Argus later revealed the company had stripped asbestos from the building for more than two years.

He worked around 30 yards from where the work was carried out .

Lawyers at Slater and Gordon, who Colin instructed to handle his case before he passed away in February, are appealing for people who may have worked with him at Alliance & Leicester Building Society to come forward with information.

John Browne, who is a specialist in industrial disease claims, said: “While asbestos was widely used into the 1980s, employers should have been aware of the risks and taken appropriate steps to protect their staff.

“People may assume that it’s only builders or those who work directly with asbestos who are at risk but it’s not. Mr Shearing was an auditor. He dealt with figures for a living but went on to lose his life as a result of building work which took place at his office 20 years ago.”

Colin met his wife Margaret and a garden centre in Sussex and married a year later. They sold their homes in Sussex to buy a home together in Cornwall where Colin’s elderly mother lives.

But it was while living there that the granddad-of-two was diagnosed with mesothelioma – a rare form of cancer that is usually caused by asbestos exposure.

His health deteriorated and the dad-of-three died a year later.

Margaret added: “Life’s rubbish really. I’d been on my own for 35 years after getting divorced and Colin had been on his own 15 years and it just doesn’t seem fair.

“He was a good man. You get all these cruel people who hurt others and do awful things and they’re all right but Colin didn’t hurt a fly and he was taken away. It’s especially hard to think of the way he died as well; he was in a lot of pain.”

Anyone who wants to get in touch with John Browne from Slater Gordon can call 0800 884 0101 or email john.browne@slatergordon.co.uk.