A DISTRESSED son has slammed a funeral firm after it emerged his mother's ashes were still in storage nine years after her death.

Since 1996, Eddie Lengthorn has made weekly visits to Lewisham Crematorium believing his mum's ashes were scattered there.

He and other family members put up a memorial plaque in the grounds and have spent hours paying their respects.

But the taxi driver was left stunned earlier this month when he received a letter from Funeralcare asking what to do with his mother Iris' ashes.

The firm had been charged with the 56-year-old's funeral after she died of bowel cancer in November 1996.

In the letter, the company asked Mr Lengthorn what it should do with the remains which had been kept in a chapel at its base in Rushey Green, Catford, since the funeral.

Mr Lengthorn, who is the oldest of seven children, says he had a verbal agreement with staff the ashes would be scattered across the crematorium grounds in Verdant Lane, Hither Green.

The father-of-three said: "It feels like everything has been wasted. We believed her ashes had been scattered and we took comfort because she was all around us.

"The money spent on flowers over the years can be quantified but what about the tears and grief? You can't measure those."

The 41-year-old is also upset because it took nearly a decade for the funeral arrangers to get in touch with him.

Mr Lengthorn, of Towncourt Crescent, Petts Wood, says when he complained to Funeralcare, he was promised £2,000 compensation.

He was planning to donate the cash to St Christopher's Hospice, Lawrie Park Road, Sydenham, where Mrs Lengthorn died.

But Funeralcare, which is part of the Co-operative group, denies this and does not accept responsibility because it does not have written permission to scatter the ashes.

A spokesman says it is standard for remains to be left with the company for long periods of time.

He said: "We are sorry to learn of Mr Lengthorn's distress over his late mother's ashes, and as a gesture of goodwill, we have offered him any reasonable assistance in scattering his late mother's ashes, such as the provision of a funeral vehicle."

Mr Lengthorn now has his mother's remains and is considering where to spread them.

He said: "We may scatter them at her home in Catford or we may scatter them at the crematorium where we have been paying our respects all these years.

"Then we'll have closure."