Recommendation sought for Asbestos Testing

I’m looking for someone who can test for the presence of Asbestos in a domestic property. This is privately owned, and the owner is not keen on splashing the cash. His had this problem for months now (potential) as he keeps putting off doing something about it. He may well not have Asbestos, but only testing the torn down ceiling will tell. There has been no clean up of the house, apart from what his builder did, the sheets themselves have been dumped in the back garden.

On telephoning his local council, they kept referring him to an Asbestos surveyor, despite him asking for advice regarding his health and exposure. This next part beggars belief. He was told by a woman from the council that don’t worry, if it’s in the garden it should be fine as long as it’s damp. He could tell she was quoting directly from HSE’s website. She also told him to contact his local recycling centre and ask how much Asbestos containing material they would accept, without giving him any advice as to how to do this safely.

Personally, I think this is appalling as we don’t know if the ceiling did contain Asbestos (it was Artex), and we don’t know when it was installed and how long it’s been there. Since this has been ripped out, others have been in the house to complete jobs, and as of now, they’re unaware of what went on.

The best outcome is if it gets tested and found to be free of Asbestos, but as far as I know, only testing will determine this.