FUNERAL ASHES IMPOSSIBLE TO BE IDENTIFIED..

Mourners left in dark over their loved ones

- PAUL BYRNE

HUMAN ashes found in a funeral parlour during a police probe cannot be identified after DNA was destroyed by cremation.

It means hundreds of mourners may never know whether they have the cremated remains of their loved ones, or of a total stranger.

Police looked into extracting DNA from the ashes but the temperatures used in cremation proved to be too high.

Last month, officers removed 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes from a funeral director's premises after concerns were raised over the care of the deceased.

A 46-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial and fraud, then bailed.