AN Ammanford company which makes socks for Prince Charles allegedly exposed its employees to potentially deadly doses of asbestos after hiring unqualified contractors, a jury at Swansea Crown Court was told on Monday.

An anonymous tip-off took officers of the Health and Safety Executive to the Corgi Hosiery Ltd premises in New Road, Pantyffynnon, where they sawa skip filled with what looked like asbestos and roofing material that also appeared to be coated in thematerial, which can cause lung cancer “many years after exposure”.

The HSE immediately ordered Corgi to evacuate the factory.

The company has denied breaching the 1974 Health and Safety Act by failing to comply with regulations aimed at protecting employees from exposure to asbestos.

Simon Parrington, prosecuting, said Corgi had hired Dragon Cladding, of Cross Hands, in 2008 as a contractor to work on the replacement of a roof, but the company was not qualified in handling, or licensed to handle, asbestos.

The firm’s manager, Stuart Phillips, 25, of Danyrallt Stables, Manordeilo, has admitted breaching safety regulations and will be sentenced after the trial.

Mr Parrington said that during the roofing work asbestos dust had been carried throughout the factory.

Some workers would have taken the fibres home in their hair and on their clothing, and it could be many years before it was known if anyone would die as a result.

“There is no doubt that employees were exposed,” Mr Parrington told the jury.

Prince Charles visited the factory in June 2010.

The trial continues.