A son finally got an apology two months after the flowers at his mother's funeral were accidentally thrown away.

Terry Wady returned to Medway Crematorium the day after his mother's funeral to find an estimated £800-worth of flowers left by well-wishers were missing.

Following his mother Winifred's funeral at the Blue Bell Hill crematorium, on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 18, Mr Wady agreed to return the next day to collect the tributes.

However, when he got there, he found they were gone, along with the plaque bearing his mother's name.

Mr Wady, originally from Chatham but now living on the Isle of Sheppey, said: "The flowers can't be replaced, that's obvious.

"It was so sad, going up there and seeing them gone.

"My initial reaction was because they were so fresh, I thought someone had stolen them, but the gates had been locked after we left."

"You can't bring the flowers back as much as I can't bring my mum back."

Mr Wady went into the council-run crematorium's office and showed the manager where the flowers should have been.

The gardeners on site didn't know where they were and assured Mr Wady the gate had been locked following his mother's funeral the previous day.

The crematorium manager said the council's contractor, Medway Norse, had taken them for disposal, and sent Mr Wady's correspondence on to them.

Despite this, Mr Wady said he was left waiting for a response.

The 71-year-old said: "I thought Norse would come back and say 'our operatives have been re-trained', or something.

"I want even a little acknowledgement."

Two months on, he has his apology.

A Norse Group spokesman said: “This was a most unfortunate incident caused by human error.

"We have well-established procedures for collecting floral tributes after funerals, which on this one occasion in February sadly failed to operate.

"We have sincerely apologised to Mr Wady for the distress caused and explained that the supervisor who would normally have dealt with the flowers was called away to deal with a police matter and an inexperienced member of staff regretfully misunderstood what was required.

"We have contacted Mr Wady with the results of our investigation, to explain what happened in detail, with an offer of compensation which we hope he will feel able to accept.”

Mr Wady said Medway Norse assured him they would be re-training staff but hadn't received correspondence from the crematorium.

The firm also sent him a bunch of roses and some shopping vouchers as a token of good will.

He said: "You can't bring the flowers back as much as I can't bring my mum back.

"At least it won't happen again, we hope."

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