A BABY'S grieving parents could have been visiting an empty grave for years after the coffin was allegedly buried without their child inside and its body was instead cremated alongside a woman's corpse.

Now two men have been charged with offences of conspiracy to prevent the proper burial of a body.

The allegations are believed to date back to 1998 and centre on two funerals conducted by the Co-operative Funeral Home, in Cromwell Road, York.

Sources close to The Press say it is alleged an empty casket - which was supposed to have contained the body of a baby - was buried.

The child's parents, who are from York, thought their baby's body had been buried. It is believed the coffin has since been exhumed as part of a police investigation.

North Yorkshire Police spokesman Ron Johnson said two men - aged 47 and 44 - were yesterday charged with offences of conspiracy to prevent the proper burial of a body.

Police investigate whether dead baby's coffin was buried empty

A BABY'S coffin is alleged to have been buried empty and the child's body cremated alongside another corpse without its parents' knowledge.

Now two men have been charged with offences of conspiracy to prevent the proper burial of a body.

The allegations are believed to date back to 1998 and centre on two funerals conducted by the Co-operative Funeral Home in Cromwell Road, York.

Sources close to The Press say it is alleged that the funeral home buried an empty casket - which was supposed to have contained the body of a baby.

The child's parents, who are from York, thought that their baby's body had been buried.

But it is believed that the child's coffin has since been exhumed as part of a police investigation and found to be empty - meaning unsuspecting relatives could have been grieving at an empty grave for many years.

According to a number of reliable sources, it is alleged the baby's body was instead put inside a different coffin, alongside the body of an elderly woman, and incinerated at York Crematorium in Bishopthorpe Road.

A spokeswoman for the Childhood Bereavement Trust said it was hard enough for parents to have to come to terms with the death of a child.

She said: "The death of a child is a particularly difficult kind of grief. No one expects their child to die before them. It is out of the natural order of things. It feels even more like something that should never have happened.

"The funeral is the family's opportunity to say their last goodbye to their child, and as such it is important that families are able to do things in whatever way feels appropriate to them, to their customs, culture and beliefs."

North Yorkshire Police spokesman Ron Johnson said two men - one aged 47 and another aged 44 - were yesterday charged with offences of conspiracy to prevent the proper burial of a body.

They have been released on police bail and are due to appear at York Magistrates Court on Monday.

A third person who had also been arrested in connection with the same investigation has been released without charge.

He said he was unable to comment on the specific details of the allegations ahead of a court case.

A spokesperson from United Co-operatives, which is the UK's largest funeral director with 169 branches including the one in York, said one employee has been suspended on full pay pending an investigation.

When the allegations first came to light they confirmed that they surrounded two funerals conducted by their York funeral home in 1998 and said they had co-operated fully with the police investigation.

The spokesman added: "Our thoughts and sympathy are with the two families involved and we hope to be able to minimise the distress caused to them."

Allegations came to light after crematorium probe

It is believed the allegations came to light as part of a separate investigation which has led to the manager of York Crematorium being suspended on full pay for a year.

The Press revealed last month how Deborah Kilvington, the manager of the crematorium, is the subject of a disciplinary investigation by City of York Council.

She has been suspended for 12 months - since last February when the internal investigation began.

But Ms Kilvington is still employed by the council.

Council leader Steve Galloway said: "The staff member is certainly subject to a disciplinary action and there is a process they have to go through.

"It would be unfair to comment on the specific allegations while that investigation is on-going."

A member of staff at the crematorium - which cremates more than 2,000 bodies each year - confirmed that she had been suspended, but said he was unable to discuss the allegations.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said those allegations were not being investigated by the police.

Terry Collins, director of Neighbourhood Services at City of York Council, said that investigation was in no way linked to the police investigation into the York funeral home, in which two people have now been charged. He said: "The council is aware of the police investigation and is co-operating fully. The council was made aware of the allegations and informed the police.

"We can confirm that a member of staff is the subject of a disciplinary investigation regarding unrelated allegations."