A COUPLE preparing for a family funeral were shocked to discover the grave had been dug in the wrong place, exposing the coffin of their baby daughter.

Dorothy Whitehouse was bracing herself for the funeral of her father, Joseph William Dodds, last week.

He was to have been buried next to his wife, Mary, at Chilton Cemetery, County Durham, on Friday afternoon.

Before the funeral, Mrs Whitehouse and her husband, Erick, visited the cemetery to put some flowers on the grave of their daughter, Yvette, who was still-born 20 years ago.

But to their horror they found their daughter's coffin had been uncovered in error by gravediggers.

Mr Whitehouse, 56, said: "My wife was really distressed about it because it brought back all the memories of going through the labour and everything.

"Seeing our daughter's coffin exposed was really upsetting for her.

"It could have been even worse if another family had been involved, because it would have been distressing for them too.

"Everybody seems to be passing the buck, but I'd like to see someone taking the blame."

Paul Gray, clerk of Chilton Town Council, said a series of unfortunate events had led to the coffin being exposed and seen by the couple.

The grave had initially been dug in the wrong place because headstones nearby had been positioned incorrectly.

The coffin was exposed because it was not buried as deeply as records indicated.

Then it was discovered that the gravedigger did not have the necessary insurance, so had to stop work while another could be called out.

This led to a delay in filling in the hole and digging the correct plot.

During this time Mr and Mrs Whitehouse visited their daughter's grave.

Mr Gray said: "I really feel for them and I'm sending them a letter to apologise.

"At the end of the day we've done everything possible with the records that we've got.

"I'm not making excuses, we dug the wrong grave, but there were a lot of complications which led to that happening.

"Since then we've put it right and we're going to get in touch with the people who have got the headstones in the wrong place to correct that."