A MOTHER whose son was stillborn is calling for an investigation after his ashes were not returned to her for over a year.

Support worker Chvonne Heaviside, 26, was devastated when baby Kai died during birth when she was 35 weeks pregnant in January last year.

She and boyfriend Peter Lines, 25, were told no ashes would be available following his funeral at Mounsett Crematorium at Dipton, near Consett.

But earlier this year she learned that a friend who lost a baby at 25 weeks had the ashes of her baby’s remains and began the lengthy process to find out what had happened to Kai before his ashes were finally returned this May.

Miss Heaviside, of Thornfield Road, The Grove, Consett, said: “It is bad enough my son dying but having him locked away for 14 months has been too much to bear.

"It is disgusting and it has made me really angry and stressed. I have been having nightmares.”

Miss Heaviside is calling for an investigation to be carried out by Speckmans Funeral Service and Mountsett Crematorium.

Both have apologised for the distress caused but have blamed each other for the initial delay in returning Kai’s ashes.

Ian Hoult, from neighbourhood services at Durham County Council, which runs the crematorium, said: “When we were written to in May of this year we responded immediately and advised that the funeral director had been contacted regarding the availability of the baby’s ashes.

“We appreciate that this is a very distressing subject and if any of the family would like to talk to us we would be more than willing to meet them.”

A spokesman for Speckmans Funeral Service, part of Dignity Funerals, said: “We collected the cremated remains and returned them to the funeral home with the intention of contacting the family but unfortunately a member of staff did not follow our usual procedures and this did not happen.

“A senior manager visited Ms Heaviside to profusely apologise for this oversight and assured her that our procedures have been reinforced so that this does not happen to another client.”