A WOMAN who discovered skin samples from her stillborn baby were taken without consent will join other parents in court later this month in their fight for compensation.

Zoe Holman, from Darlington, contacted South Durham NHS Trust hotline almost two years ago to find out if any of her son's organs were removed.

She was told that skin samples from her son's legs and arms were removed at Darlington Memorial Hospital for medical research - without her knowledge or consent.

She was so angry she joined other bereaved families from around the country, who also discovered that organs and tissue samples were removed from their dead children without consent.

Relatives were kept in ignorance about the removal of body parts until an information ban on NHS trusts was lifted in the wake of the Alder Hey inquiry into organ retention in Liverpool.

The Nationwide Organ Retention Group, representing the families outside Liverpool, had been in mediation with the NHS over compensation for the distress caused.

But a £2.5m settlement offered this week has been rejected as an insult, and the Organ Retention Group is preparing to go to court.

Ms Holman said: "It is appalling.

"No amount of money can make up for losing my son and what happened to him, but the NHS have never even said sorry.

"I do not know how they thought that the group would accept such a small amount of money. It is an insult to me and to my son."

As well as the offer of £2.5m, the group were offered 20 per cent of the legal costs they had claimed, which they also rejected.

Mervyn Fudge, who is leading the group's legal challenge, said: "We are bitterly disappointed at the outcome of negotiations and the failure to make substantial progress."

But a spokesman for the NHS Litigation Authority said it had not been told directly that its offer of £2.5m had been rejected.

He said the offer was not made in relation to the number of families in the case, and it had been intended that the Organ Retention Group would split the money between its members.

The issue will be heard at Nottingham High Court, on January 31, where it is expected the families' group will announce its intention to take the matter to trial