EXCLUSIVE: Marquess of Bath is sued for £200,000 by maintenance man’s widow who says he died from asbestos exposure from years working on Longleat estate

• Allan Keyse, 84, died from mesothelioma, an incurable cancer, in 2019
• Family say he was exposed to asbestos when he worked for Alexander Thynn

The Marquess of Bath is being sued for £200,000 by a widow of a maintenance man who says her husband died an asbestos-related cancer after years spent working on the Longleat Estate.

Allan Keyse, 84, died from mesothelioma, an incurable cancer of the tissues surrounding his lungs in 2019.

His family say Mr Keyse was exposed to asbestos when he worked for Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath at his vast Longleat estate in Wiltshire.

Now his widow Sally Keyse, 80, is taking legal action against his son Lore Ceawlin Thynn, who is married to Strictly star Emma Thynn and inherited the title after his father died in April 2020. 

Mr Keyse worked for Lord Bath between 1961 and 1970 at Longleat, refurbishing and maintaining the main house, as well as old cottages and barns which contained asbestos and asbestos roofs, she says. 

Allan Keyse, 84, died from mesothelioma, an incurable cancer of the tissues surrounding his lungs in 2019

The late 7th Marquess of Bath pictured outside Longleat House, Wiltshire, in 1997

Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth and Emma Weymouth, Marchioness of Bath, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019

He was also exposed to asbestos when he installed a new asbestos corrugated roof on a barn at Parsonage Farm on the estate, fetching, cutting and drilling large sheets of asbestos, a High Court claim says.

Mrs Keyse, of Westbury, says he worked on old estate cottages, knocking down some buildings containing asbestos, and was covered in asbestos dust when he smashed down outbuildings without any precautions.

He had to load broken asbestos sheets and debris onto a lorry and sweep up small pieces and dust, and his work involved demolishing outbuildings and asbestos roofs fairly frequently until 1966, when he spent two years working on the main house, where he was not expose to asbestos, it is alleged.

He continued to be exposed to asbestos at Longleat until about 1970, and was never warned about the dangers of asbestos, or given any respiratory protection, the court will hear.

Mr Keyse first noticed symptoms of mesothelioma in 2018 when he became breathless walking up slopes on holiday, followed by back pain, and he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in February 2019.

Fluid was drained from his lung, and he was given antibiotics to treat an infection, but he was not well enough for chemotherapy, and needed morphine to control his pain.

He died prematurely on August 7, 2019, losing around 5.65 years of life, the claim says.

Mrs Keyne accuses the Marquess of Bath, and his later employers Whitley Marketing Services, of negligently exposing him to asbestos, and of exposing him to a major risk of fatal injury without giving him any protection or warning him about the risks he ran.

The claim was issued by Anthony Waddington of Simpson Millar.

It is understood that the marquess will be defending the claim and a defence will be filed at court shortly. 

Mr Keyse’s family say he was exposed to asbestos when he worked for Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath at his vast Longleat estate in Wiltshire (stock image)

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