Northumberland County Council says sorry for burying man in wrong grave in Chevington cemetery

The local authority has also been ordered to foot the bill for exhuming Michael Dunn, who died in February this year, and re-burying him in the correct plot in Chevington cemetery, near Morpeth.

He was mistakenly laid to rest in a grave which had been earmarked for Morpeth woman Joyce Buddle.

Mrs Buddle’s husband William died in November and when she buried him on December 2, she also reserved the space next to him for herself.

But on February 27, Mr Dunn was buried in Mrs Buddle’s plot, instead of the one he or his family had reserved for him close by.

Mrs Buddle has therefore had to apply for special permission from the Church of England’s Consistory Court to have Mr Dunn moved out of the grave earmarked for herself, and into the plot he was meant to be buried in.

The case was heard by Judge Simon Wood of the Diocese of Newcastle who said in his judgement: “Understandably, this error is one that has caused a great deal of unhappiness for each of the Buddle and Dunn families, who are still grieving the recent loss of much-loved close family members.

"Greg Gavin, the council’s head of neighbourhood services, has acknowledged the mistake made which he attributed to ‘human error’, for which the council accepts full responsibility.”

Exhumations are extremely rare and are only permitted in exceptional circumstances. But as Mr Dunn’s widow and son did not oppose him being moved, and to allow Mrs Buddle to be laid to rest next to her husband, Judge Wood granted permission.

He concluded: “I am satisfied that there was a mistake in this case arising from the unfortunate mistake in Mr Dunn being laid to rest in a plot already reserved by the petitioner, a plot whose location was of singular significance, being immediately adjacent to that of her late husband.

“The evidence proves conclusively that Michael Dunn’s remains were interred in the wrong grave by mistake. The court is wholly satisfied that the petitioner [Mrs Buddle] be granted the relief sought.

"Accordingly, the faculty is granted on the following conditions; namely that any terms imposed by the environmental health department of Northumberland County Council are complied with, and that the costs arising from and incidental to the exhumation and re-interment are met by the council.”

Northumberland County Council said it conducted around 450 burials a year across 20 cemeteries, and this was the first time an error like this had occurred.

A spokesperson added: “We would like to sincerely apologise to the affected families for this very unfortunate mistake.

"We understand the significant distress this has caused to the families of those involved, and have been in regular contact with them since it happened to agree a resolution and provide any necessary support to them.

"Following the decision by the Church of England and with the consent of both families, we acted quickly to correct this mistake.

"It was a genuine case of human error and we'll be doing everything we can to ensure this mistake doesn’t happen again."