The family of a former heating and ventilation engineer is appealing for his former colleagues to come forward with information about his historic working conditions, following his death from mesothelioma.
Mr Michael Oldfield, who lived in Lancashire, was diagnosed with mesothelioma – a terminal cancer caused by exposure to asbestos – on 12 August 2025. He sadly passed away just weeks later on 4 September 2025, aged 73.
Mr Oldfield began his working life at the age of just 15, starting as an apprenticeship as a heating and ventilation engineer with James Mercer (Preston) Ltd in July 1967.
He remained with the company until February 1973, regularly working in commercial boiler rooms in schools, hospitals and churches - stripping out old boilers, removing lagging, and installing new boilers and pipework.
After leaving James Mercer, Mr Oldfield went on to work at BAE Systems at Samlesbury, initially as a fitter and later in an office-based role, remaining there until around 2012 when he retired.
Following his passing, Mr Oldfield’s widow, June, instructed Andrew Venn, a Partner at Thompsons Solicitors’ Newcastle office, to investigate the circumstances of his exposure.
Mr Oldfield
June is appealing to anyone who worked alongside her husband during his career to come forward with any information about working conditions and the presence of asbestos at the time, as well as those who worked in similar roles to those that Mr Oldfield did at James Mercer (Preston) Ltd.
Commenting on her husband’s death, June said: “It was a devastating loss. Michael had only just received his diagnosis, and everything happened so quickly. It has been terribly hard to come to terms with. We had no time to prepare, and now I just want to understand how and where he was exposed to something that ultimately took his life.”
Andrew Venn, from Thompsons’ industrial disease team, added: “Mesothelioma is a cruel and entirely preventable illness. Sadly, Mr Oldfield died shortly after his diagnosis, and we are now hoping to speak to former colleagues to further piece together what happened.
“He worked extensively in commercial boiler rooms in the 60s and 70s, when asbestos was a common feature in such environments, and so while we are keen to speak to anyone who worked alongside him throughout his career, we are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who worked at James Mercer (Preston) Ltd between 1967 and 1973 and has relevant information.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Andrew Venn at Thompsons Solicitors on 0191 269 0412, or via email at AndrewVenn@thompsons.law.