ANOTHER former York Carriageworks employee from Down Under told today how he was living in fear from the asbestos time bomb.

Bernie Donohue, 56, moved to Australia in 1971, but was exposed to the deadly dust for nearly six months after joining as an apprentice in 1964.

He worked as a body maker on train carriages which involved scraping out the lethal blue asbestos. Dust generated from the substance has claimed many lives - and the death toll is rising.

The Evening Press recently reported the story of former carriageworks employee Peter Carr, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1980. He decided to get in touch after friends and relatives in York sent him newspaper cuttings about the continuing death toll from the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma.

Six inquests have already been held this year into the deaths of ex-carriageworks employees, and another into the death of a woman whose father and two brothers worked there.

"We used to roll the asbestos up and throw it like snowballs," said Mr Donohue, who now lives in Adelaide and has regular check-ups at the hospital. "I was covered in it, but we thought nothing about it at the time.

"I became really worried when I realised what asbestos really was."

Mr Donohue, a father of two, contacted the Evening Press after seeing an article during a trip to York about his old colleague at the carriageworks, Arnie Gomersall. Mr Gomersall said he was too fearful to get checked up at the doctors because of what they might find.

"It constantly plays on my mind and I feel very fortunate that I'm still clear of it," said Mr Donohue.

"We should never have been exposed to it.

"I'm astounded by the number of people who have been affected by it.

"As I get older I will get checked out more regularly.

"I went for a walk round the former carriageworks which was very poignant. A lot of my old friends have died."

Updated: 11:19 Tuesday, April 26, 2005