The ashes of a widower who wanted to be interred with his wife were mistakenly scattered 200 miles away in a devastating blunder by a Labour council crematorium.

Mining engineer John Bishop, 89, was cremated after his funeral in Cwmbran, south Wales, and his son, David, planned to collect the ashes two weeks later.

But the grieving son, 60, was 'dumbstruck' to learn the remains had already been scattered without his permission by Gwent Crematorium, run by Newport Council.

David, an only child, said he was left feeling 'empty and helpless' that his parents would never be reunited after their deaths, as they had all hoped.

He said: 'It feels so empty that at the end of his life he has been treated so disrespectfully.'

John's body was cremated at the Gwent Crematorium in Cwmbran, and David had planned to transport the ashes to Babworth, Nottinghamshire, where his mother June's ashes lie.

David, from Caerleon, Gwent, described his father as a 'lovely' and 'colourful character' who was 'well respected'.

He added that his large beard meant 'everyone saw him as kind of a Father Christmas lookalike'.

John moved into a care home to be near his son after June died in 2020, with whom he had been 'joined at the hip'.

He then died suddenly at the end of April after being admitted to hospital for routine checks and suffering a heart attack.

David said his father was 'very career-orientated', rising up through the ranks from an apprentice to become a mining engineer.

John had requested for his funeral to be arranged with Co-op Funeralcare upon his father's request, after the company also organised his mother's funeral in the Midlands.

Although John wanted his funeral to take place in south Wales, he had specifically asked for his ashes to be laid beside his wife's at Babworth Crematorium.

The funeral all went to plan on May 26 - but David said everything changed when he emailed Gwent Crematorium to arrange collection of the ashes.

He was told the ashes had already been scattered in the Garden of Remembrance by the crematorium, because 'they believed that was the instruction from the funeral director'.

David said he was 'dumbstruck' - and said: 'I just couldn't believe it.

'I was thinking, "Am I really hearing this? How can this be? It just doesn't feel right."

'I'm still struggling to comprehend it.'

David said Gwent Crematorium had been 'very apologetic' and told him an investigation was under way.

He said: 'I'm assuming somebody's made a mistake somewhere, but nobody's admitted that yet.

'They've told me I have to wait until the investigation is finished, which will probably be next week.

'It just leaves me feeling empty and helpless.

'I've probably been more emotional over the last two days than since his death because it's just not right.

'I just feel hurt that I can't do what I need to do,' he added.

A spokesperson for Co-op Funeralcare said its records showed the instructions provided to Gwent Crematorium 'reflected the wishes of our client'.

The company said: 'We are deeply saddened to learn that our client's wishes were not followed and the understandable upset and distress this has caused, and we are continuing to support Mr Bishop and his family throughout.'

A spokesperson for Newport City Council said an investigation was being carried out to 'find out how this happened to prevent it from happening again in the future'.

'We spoke to Mr Bishop yesterday but would like to apologise publicly to him and his family for what we recognise is a deeply upsetting situation,' it added.