An investigation has been launched into claims a funeral home stored coffins containing bodies in a corridor next to an old bike and a Christmas tree.
The Sun printed pictures showing three coffins stacked on shelves in a corridor at the Midcounties Co-operative Funeralcare home in Walsall.
The newspaper quoted a source as saying bodies were usually left for one or two days, but on one occasion in October, they claimed, a coffin remained for two weeks. It is not clear if the coffin was in use or not at the time.
"After bodies have been put in their coffin they get dumped in a corridor behind the chapel and the state it's in is appalling," the source said.
Midcounties Co-operative said it would investigate the claims.
A spokesman for the firm told the paper: "In our Walsall funeral home, one chapel of rest is used to respectfully hold coffins. Before being transported to a funeral, coffins are moved to an adjoining designated corridor.
"It is against company policy for any unrelated items to be kept within a chapel of rest or designated corridor alongside coffins and so we will immediately investigate any allegations of this policy being breached."
Jane Hughes, whose father John Bagby's body was kept at the home while awaiting his funeral, told the Sun she was "sickened to the stomach" by the claims.
"We were assured Dad would be looked after, so to hear this has absolutely smacked us in the face," she added.
The Midcounties Co-operative describes itself on its website as the largest independent co-operative in the UK, employing 9,000 people and with more than 500,000 members.
It operates 77 funeral homes across the West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Swindon and Gloucestershire.
PA
