A RETIRED newsagent could have come into contact with asbestos fibres that eventually led to her death while building work was taking place at her shop, an inquest heard.

Sylvia Brookfield, 84, died at Alexandra House care home in Alexandra Road, Poole, on December 29, 2019.

An inquest into her death opened at Dorset Coroner's Court on Monday, January 13.

Coroner's officer Ken McEwan told the hearing that a provisional cause of death had been given as epithelioid mesothelioma after she had been diagnosed with the condition in July 2019.

He said: "It is not know where she came into contact during her working life with asbestos but it is believed to have been during some building works that were carried out at her newsagents shop in Merseyside."

Senior coroner for Dorset Rachael Griffin adjourned the inquest into Ms Brookfield's death until July 17.