I need to cut lighting holes in ceiling of1953 house but worried of asbestos in what looks like plasterboard?

-I need to cut 5 holes for down lighters in the ceiling. I am concerned that the ceiling panels which appear to be made of plasterboard may contain asbestos. The plasterboard appears very similar to present day plasterboard, but is of darker cement like appearance where it is broken in places. The house was built in c1953 and the ceiling appears to have uneven 'skimming' and is cracked along the joints. I also intend to fit new plasterboard on to the existing ceiling due to this uneven appearance as the ceiling is painted with gloss finish. I would still have to cut the holes on the old ceiling as well for the down lighters. I live in Hampshire. What are the dangers of asbestos dust??? Please advise and many thanks.have a look where its broken but wear a mask, if you can see small fibers in the broken bit of board its likely to be asbestos, dont mess around get professional help removing it, also due to the age it is highly likely to be asbestos and the dust is very dangerous to your lungs, avoid tearing it down yourself hope this helps
i doubt very much its asbestos, but you cant be sure put a dust sheet down and wear a mask, you can buy a hole saw for a drill, this will speedup the job. when you mark your centres make sure your not going to hit a joist then wrap all your rubbish in the dust sheet and bin the lot [ bag it first and tape up] then vacumn the area and throw away the overalls that i never mentioned earlier.
If you overboard the ceiling, then chances are that the downlights will not 'hold' in place, as the ceiling boards will be too deep.



I'd drop the ceiling and start again.
Just use a dust mask. You should anyway with or without Asbestos.