Undertakers apologise after they ‘forget to dig grave’

A FUNERAL had to be stopped during the service because undertakers forgot to dig a woman’s grave.

Mark Baines, 45, branded the company “shambolic” after it told him that his mother, Susan Baines, could not be buried.

Mr Baines, of Reculver, Kent, said: “Five minutes before the funeral, they said ‘we’re very sorry but we’ve forgotten to dig the hole’. I was so shocked, but I wasn’t going to make a scene.”

More than 25 close friends and relatives travelled to Kent from as far as Wales for the burial, but were only able to witness the memorial.

An impromptu burial was organised for the next day – with only three people as witness.

Mrs Baines ran a secretarial college in Canterbury, Kent, from the late Seventies until 1992 and died on Jan 9.

Funeral directors Woollard and Kent offered Mr Baines a £500 reduction on his bill, but he is seeking financial damages.

Mark Woollard, the owner of Woollard and Kent, apologised for the distress caused: “We have obviously sent our sincere apologies to Mr Baines. It’s purely down to human error.”