Crematorium scattered dad's ashes without permission before I could reunite him with mum

A grieving son says he's "dumbstruck" after his dad's ashes were scattered by a crematorium without his permission.

David Bishop, 60, planned to collect the ashes of John from Gwent Crematorium and take them to Nottinghamshire so they could be laid beside his late mum.

But when David contacted the crematorium on Wednesday, two weeks after the funeral, he was told John's ashes had already been scattered despite his request.

Co-op Funeralcare said its records showed the instructions provided to the Crematorium "reflected the wishes of our client", while Newport City Council, which manages the crematorium, said an investigation is under way.

"It feels so empty that at the end of his life he has been treated so disrespectfully," David said.

David, from Caerleon, Newport, described his father as a "lovely", "colourful character" and "well respected", saying his large beard meant "everyone saw him as kind of a Father Christmas lookalike".

He said his dad was "very career-orientated", who started out as an apprentice in Cwmbran before rising through the ranks to become a mining engineer, working across Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.

The 89-year-old was involved in miners' union discussions, hosted Arthur Scargill during the miners' strike, later met Michael Foot, and served as lifetime president of Tredegar RFC.

John ended his career as head of machine services for British Coal in Worksop.

After the death of his wife June Bishop in 2020, to whom he was "joined at the hip", he moved to a care home in Caerleon in January to be closer to David, his only child, as his health and mobility declined.

John died suddenly at the end of April after being admitted to hospital for routine checks and suffering a heart attack.

David said the family arranged the funeral through Co-op Funeralcare, in line with his father's wishes, as the company had also organised his mother's funeral in the Midlands.

Although John wanted his funeral to take place in south Wales, he had asked for his ashes to be laid beside his wife at Babworth Crematorium.

The funeral was held on 26 May, but David said everything changed when he emailed Gwent Crematorium to arrange collection of the ashes.

Shortly afterwards, he received a call informing him they had already been scattered in the Garden of Remembrance "because they believed that was the instruction from the funeral director".

When he learned what had happened on Wednesday, David said he was "dumbstruck" and left work early.

"I was thinking, 'am I really hearing this? How can this be? It just doesn't fe