Family promised dying woman they would be buried next to her - then discovered a stranger had been buried there

A brother whose family made a promise to his dying sister that they would be buried alongside her visited her grave to discover a stranger had been buried in the spot. 

Mark Edwards reserved a grave space in South Stoneham Cemetery, Southampton so he could one day be laid to rest next to his sister Julie Williams, who died in 1999 aged 41. His parents were also supposed to be buried in the plot.

But two years ago the family were horrified to discover that someone else had been buried in the space. 

Council records show that shortly after Ms Williams' death her brother's reservation was mysteriously moved to a different spot, without his knowledge. 

The court heard that his mother's last words to his sister had been to promise her that one day her family "would be beside her".

But a judge has decided that Patricia Sutton - who died and was buried in the plot in 2016 - would not be exhumed and moved to another patch within the cemetery.

The Edwards family realised the error when they visited Mrs Williams' grave to mark the anniversary of her death, 10 days after Mrs Sutton's funeral.

The chancellor of the diocese of Winchester, Matthew Cain Ormonroyd, said: "The possibility of real consequences for the Sutton family (the exhumation and its emotional consequences), coupled with the position on alternatives, has just persuaded me that, overall, this is not one of those exceptional cases in which exhumation can properly be ordered."

A spokesman for Southampton City Council, which operates the cemetery, said it "unreservedly apologised" for the situation. 

He said its records showed Mr Edwards' grave had been transferred "at the request of a family member, to an adjacent burial plot shortly after the grave had been reserved in 1999.

"The council allocated the grave in accordance with these records, which were subsequently shown to be in conflict with the exclusive right of burial produced by the family in question."