THE worker who uncovered an asbestos scandal at a North-East leisure centre blew the whistle on his bosses because he did not believe they were taking the matter seriously, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Wear Valley District Council was fined £18,000 in August after it emerged that inspection reports for a sports centre in Bishop Auckland in 2001 were ignored.

Fears have been raised about the health of workers based at Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, who were exposed to the dangerous asbestos for more than five years.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, The Northern Echo has obtained a full copy of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report compiled by inspector Richard Bishop.

The document reveals:

* Council staff felt their bosses failed to treat their complaints seriously when the asbestos report was found in January last year;

* Asbestos warning stickers were placed over the affected equipment only the day before HSE inspectors arrived;

* The 2001 report was shown to senior managers but "shelved" at council headquarters.

Asbestos is the greatest single cause of work-related deaths in the UK. People exposed to the substance for long periods can develop a range of diseases, including lung cancer.

The case was brought to the HSE's attention by maintenance worker Jim Dawson, who discovered the 2001 asbestos report in January last year.

Mr Dawson complained to management that he and his colleagues had not been told about the danger, but later reported the case to the HSE because he was not satisfied with the council's response.

In the investigation report, Mr Bishop writes: "They (the maintenance workers) were extremely concerned about the risks to their health for a number of reasons.

"They complained vociferously to their employer though contacted the HSE when in their opinion the council had failed to act on their concerns seriously enough."

Mr Dawson found the 2001 report, which was compiled by Consett-based company MIS, while staff at Woodhouse Close were preparing for an inspection by Quest - a Government- approved sports and leisure assessment service.

He reported the council to the HSE on January 16 and the HSE visited the site two days later.

The report reveals that the council contracted MIS to carry out a new assessment on January 17 - the day before inspectors arrived - and asbestos warning stickers were put up in the plant room at that stage.

Robert Batie, a maintenance worker at Woodhouse Close until 2003, said: "If the HSE hadn't been told about this, the council would have just carried on without doing anything about it.

"If the report hadn't been found, I would have known nothing about this, and if the HSE had not been contacted, nobody would have been any the wiser."

When the case went to court in August, the council's solicitor told magistrates that all senior managers in charge in 2001 had since left their posts.

The authority's new chief executive, Michael Laing, and the leader of the council, Councillor Neil Stonehouse, later issued an apology to the staff.

Last month, councillors at Wear Valley agreed to hold an inquiry in public to establish why the 2001 report was ignored.

Crucial information - including the names of the officers involved - is missing from the report obtained by The Northern Echo. The HSE said names had been deleted because of an exemption in the Freedom of Information Act that bans the release of details that could affect any ongoing inquiry.

Legislation states that the exemption can be utilised if the information could later be used to launch criminal proceedings.

In the report, Mr Bishop writes: "Following the survey, (name deleted) informed senior managers in relevant departments of the findings and showed them a copy of the report by MIS, though the report itself was thereafter kept centrally in the Civic Centre, in Crook."

Mr Batie, 56, said last night: "I am pleased this inquiry is going to be held in public, because we really need to know what went on."

Coun Stonehouse said: "This is not really something I can comment on.

"I am sure the inquiry will look into this, with the help of the documents that have been received."

The inquiry is expected to begin in the new year.