Family who were given a stranger's ashes call for stricter funeral home rules

The family of a man whose body was found in a Hull funeral home after he was supposed to have been cremated have said it is "easier to open a funeral directors than it is a sandwich shop", as they urged the government to regulate the industry.

- Robyn Vinter

Michaela Baldwin said she had assumed funeral directors were subject to some regulation when her family used one in Hull after the death of her stepfather, Danny Middleton.

"I've always thought that funeral parlours, funeral directors, anyone who deals with bodies have to have licences and regulations," she said.

After the funeral, the family were given what they were told were Middleton's ashes by Legacy independent funeral directors, only to be contacted later by police when his body was found uncremated at its Hessle Road premises.

Robert Bush, 47, has been charged with 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial and 30 counts of fraud by false representation after 35 bodies and "a quantity" of human ashes were discovered there. He has yet to enter a plea and is on bail until a hearing on 15 October.

Other families, MPs and funeral industry organisations have joined Baldwin in calling for urgent action to regulate the sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Full regulation is already in place in Scotland.