Stranger buried in family grave

Alan Jones, of Sutton Street, Howley, learned of the blunder as he prepared to sign a form allowing the family grave to be opened to bury his father, also Alan.

Mr Jones, aged 84, died in Warrington Hospital, on October 22, but his ashes are still waiting to be laid to rest.

The family are furious after discovering that the stranger's body had been buried in the plot in 1985.

Son, Alan, said: "My dad paid for this grave years ago and now he can't get into it himself. It's disgraceful.

"At least my father has been cremated and it's just his ashes which are waiting to go in the plot. If he was waiting to be buried his body would have been lying around for ages."

In 1949 Mr Jones Snr paid £10 for the deeds to two plots at Widnes cemetery.

His mother and father are buried in one and his 20-month-old baby daughter, Jennifer, and wife, Margaret, are in the second grave - along with the third body.

Halton Borough Council has blamed the blunder on confusion over the name Jennifer.

In 1985, the daughter of the man buried in the Jones' plot, wrongly identified the family grave as her dead mother's who was also called Jennifer.

But the body believed to be the dead man's wife was, in fact, Mr Jones' baby daughter Jennifer.

Director of Environmental Services, Richard Tregea, said: "We are concerned about any distress caused to the family at this time and will be doing everything in our power to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."

Now the distraught family has applied to the Home Office for an exhumation licence so the man's body can be removed.

Amanda Jones, his granddaughter, said: "I'm so annoyed about this that I feel like digging up the body myself.

"This has caused my family a lot of upset and we can't even grieve for my grandfather. We are still waiting to lay his ashes with his wife and child."

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