A father of two died from Legionnaires' disease caused by a dirty hospital shower head after being told by doctors he had beaten cancer. Daryl Eyles, 37, died the day he was due to be discharged from the Royal United hospital in Bath after months of chemotherapy for leukaemia.

An inquest in Bristol heard how the security officer, from Whiteway, contracted the disease after using a shower on the hospital ward during his fourth and final chemotherapy session in February 2004. Doctors had told him he had achieved "complete remission" and should have made a full recovery.

Yesterday the jury foreman said: "While his immune system was low Mr Eyles died of legionella while an inpatient. This was a known risk and appropriate precautions were not taken."

After the hearing, Mr Eyles' family criticised lack of funding and said it wanted to know whether the Health and Safety Executive would prosecute the trust. The RUH trust chief executive, Mark Davies, said in a statement: "I would like to offer my most heartfelt apologies to Mr Eyles' family ... A settlement has been agreed in response to the family's legal claim."