THE family of a Clydebank woman were left devastated at her funeral after they turned up to the cemetery to discover the grave hadn’t been dug.

West Dunbartonshire Council has since apologised and carried out a full investigation into the matter, but a family member said an apology would “do nothing”.

The man, who asked not to be identified, told the Post: “We were there for about 40 minutes waiting and we thought ‘something’s not right here’.

“On the headstone her name was engraved but the grave wasn’t opened – nothing there.

“We got to the cemetery at 1.45pm and we were there until 2.20pm. It was pouring out the heavens, it was a total shambles.

“We then got sent away and were told to come back at 5pm.”

The man’s mother, who is elderly and disabled, was not able to make it back to the cemetery and missed out on her loved one’s burial.

He added: “I had to take my mum back home so she was there at the beginning when nothing was happening but didn’t actually see the burial.

“And when we did get back later on, it was a case of getting her in the grave and getting away.

“We had family come from abroad and from England to attend that funeral.

“The trauma my mum went through was disgraceful. She was greeting her heart out – very stressed and upset about it all.

“It costs you nearly £700 to reopen the grave but it’s not even about the money, it’s the fact that an apology would do nothing.”

A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said: “We are deeply sorry for this incident, which occurred due to a breakdown in communication between council employees, and have contacted the family directly to apologise.

“We sympathetically manage our cemetery operations with the utmost care and respect for our bereaved families and are sorry that we fell short of those high standards in this instance.

“The matter has been fully investigated and additional measures have been put in place to ensure this does not happen again.”