Grieving son blasts undertaker who ‘lost’ his dad’s body - forcing funeral to be postponed

A grieving son has blasted a UK undertakers after they “lost” his dad’s body - forcing the funeral to be postponed. Leigh Blanning said his experience with L J Guyan has been “horrific”.

The 51-year-old enlisted the firm after dad John Blanning, 82, passed away in December 2022. But when it came to the day of the funeral Leigh was told the ceremony could not go ahead - because the hearse had broken down.

Devastated Leigh, from Bristol, had to tell mourners to go straight to the wake - meaning they couldn’t pay their proper respects. And, after L J Guyan launched a probe, it turned out it wasn’t that the hearse hadn’t broken down but that the late Mr Blanning’s body had been misplaced.

A report said the body had been left in Bath and not taken to Keynsham, where the funeral director’s office was. This meant it could not be transported to the funeral location in Bristol in time.

L J Guyan has apologised, but Leigh said it was the “most horrific experience” he’d ever had and he “doesn’t feel any justice has been done.”

“I feel that I’ve let my dad down and it’s left me feeling so bitter and angry about it,” he added. “It was a day we should have been celebrating my dad’s life and it turned out to be day where we were talking about what happened instead.

“People weren’t really giving that much thought to dad, I know it was something beyond our control but the effect that it had on me was unbearable. It’s been completely upsetting.”

Leigh reconnected with his dad after 38 years apart just a decade ago. After he died, Leigh was told by a family member that they had previously worked with L J Guyan on other family funerals.

The company, based in Keynsham, organised the ceremony for January 16, 2023 - a Monday. However, when on his way to the funeral, Leigh says he received a call from L J Guyan informing him that there had been an issue and the funeral would be going ahead later than planned.

Unable to celebrate his father’s life as planned, the attendees made their way to the wake and Leigh later called the funeral directors who he claims explained that the hearse had broken down. He says L J Guyan offered to rearrange the funeral for the following Friday – but many of the mourners couldn’t attend the new date, making for a much more subdued occasion.