A HEARTBROKEN family was forced to restart their grandad's funeral - after a cemetery dug the WRONG grave.
The service for Charles Todd, 65, was delayed for 45 minutes following the "awful" error.
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Charles Todd's bereaved family had his wake spoilt by an error at the cemetery Credit: MEN Media 3
The family had to wait 45 minutes for the digger to dig up the desired plot Credit: MEN Media
When the bereaved family arrived at the graveyard in Bolton, Greater Manchester, Mr Todd's family were shocked to see it wasn't the site they had picked out.
They then had to wait while a digger arrived to dig out the fresh grave.
Children were among the mourners who had to wait while a JCB dug out a new plot.
And once the coffin had been lowered into the ground, many friends and relatives left before attending the wake.
Charles’ son, Eddie Todd said: “It was awful, we were waiting for 45 minutes.
"For my dad’s grandchildren it was particularly bad as this will be their first experience of a funeral."
Eddie added that the casket was lowered into the ground lopsided - an image that deeply upset his mother, Anne and remains in her mind.
As a result of the delay, the hot food ordered for the wake was disrupted and the bagpiper the family had hired had to wait.
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Expressing her upset of this being her last memory of her partner, Charles’ widow Anne said: “It was so undignified, this is not the lasting memory we wanted. I just hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “This was a deeply regrettable mistake on our part and we offer our sincere apologies to Mr Todd’s family for the upset and distress caused.
“We have contacted the family to apologise and to discuss if we can, in some way, make up for what has happened.”
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Charles Todd died aged 65 Credit: MEN Media