'Whose ashes were scattered then?'

DAUGHTER'S SHOCK AT BEING TOLD HER DAD'S ASHES HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN LEFT IN CHAPEL FOR 23 YEARS

- By NAOMI CORRIGAN

A DISTRAUGHT woman has told how she almost fainted after learning her dad’s ashes had been “gathering dust” at a funeral directors - for 23 years after his death.

Since her father Robert McLaughlin lost his battle with cancer in 2002, Anne Marie Sparks has visited Acklam Cemetery several times a year on anniversaries and Father's Day.

She said she and her late siblings requested, and believed, that their father’s ashes had been scattered in the February Garden of Remembrance.

However, in a shock phone call from Relph Funeral Directors in North Ormesby, she said she was told his urn was still sitting in a chapel there.

The 64-year-old from Darlington said she is struggling to make sense of the distressing issue and has lodged an official complaint.

Dignity, the umbrella company of Relph, said they are investigating the complaint, which is “complicated” due to the amount of time which has passed since the funeral arrangements were made.

Mrs Sparks said she is angry and upset, stating: “I don’t understand why this has taken 23 years.

“I got a call last week and they said they were going through old paperwork and found my dad’s ashes were still there. I said: ‘No my dad’s ashes were scattered at the Garden of Remembrance.

“She was saying it has to be investigated because whose ashes did they scatter then? I could have fainted in the kitchen. To say I was shocked is an understatement.”

Mrs Sparks says she was contacted twice again and given different explanations.