Court to decide over burial error

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A church court is to decide whether to exhume a man's body after he was buried in a plot reserved for a widow of another man.

Daniel Hastelow, 26, was buried in the Walsall Wood churchyard in November.

However, the plot was reserved by the widow of Michael Best so she could be buried next to him.

A church spokesman apologised for the mistake but said the families had been unable to agree over what should happen to rectify the situation.

Mr Hastelow, of Walsall Wood, was stabbed in Majorca in 2008 where he had been working as a barman.

His family campaigned for many months to raise the money to return his body home.

'Without fault'

His sister, Claire Peters, has said he had already been exhumed once and she did not want it to happen again.

Jean Best, Michael Best's widow, has said she is very upset at the situation.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Lichfield has said a hearing will be held in the New Year and that it was not the fault of the families that an agreement has not been reached.

"Both families are completely without fault.

"This problem has arisen simply because of a mistake by the church and we remain extremely sorry that this has happened," he said.