A MAN says his nan's coffin was spattered with blood and "engulfed in mould" at a scandal-hit funeral home.
Tristan Essex used to talk to his gran's ashes on his mantelpiece - until cops told him they believed her body was still at the home.
Last month officers recovered 35 bodies and some unidentified ashes from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.
Tristan, 24, had taken his nan Jessie Stockdale's ashes home from the parlour, keeping them on his fireplace next to her handbag.
He rang a helpline which cops set up for concerned relatives of people whose bodies had been handled by the funeral home.
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Officers told him they believed Jesse's body was still in the home - and that the ashes on his fireplace could be someone else's.
Tristan told BBC Radio 4: "We’d said it must be wrong, the ashes are there on the fireplace, they’re just sat right there.
"I’ve been talking to them as if it was my grandma and we don’t even know who’s in this ashes box."
The Hull man recalled how he was stunned by "such an unpleasant smell" when he visited the funeral home when Jessie died.
He assumed the smell was normal for a funeral parlour - but was taken aback when he saw Jessie's body.
Tristan said: "When I saw the coffin my heart just stopped. He’d made no efforts at making her presentable.
"Her hair was wet, her face didn’t look the same, she looked so uncomfortable.
"Her head tilted forward, her fingers had gone black, the entire coffin was just engulfed in a black thick mould.
"Her coffin looked as if it had been submerged in water and it had actually soaked up the moisture.
"Then on the frills of the coffin there was blood just sprayed, clearly for everyone to see.
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"She just looked poorly treated. I just left, I was speechless."
Tristan offered to give cops the ashes on his fireplace - but was told to hang onto them while DNA tests are done on the body.
A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman remain on bail after being arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.
The scandal is set to cost taxpayers around £2 million to cover issues such as second funerals.
Legacy Independent Funerals has been contacted for comment.
