A GRIEVING West Fife family was left “shocked and stressed” when their mum's burial was delayed by more than two hours – because Fife Council had not dug a lair.

Family and friends of great-great-gran Christina Livingstone Proctor, who died aged 93 on July 19, arrived at Beath Cemetery following her funeral on July 27 to discover there was nowhere to lay her to rest.

The mix-up resulted in the burial, which had been scheduled for 10.45am, only taking place around 1.15pm, with Christina's remains taken back to the funeral parlour in the meantime.

Christina's heartbroken daughter Elizabeth McHale, 62, of Calais View, Dunfermline, said the blunder had been “so stressful, you just couldn't make it up”.

She told the Press: “We arrived at the cemetery and the grave hadn't even been open. It hadn't been dug at all.

“The funeral director from the Co-op realised on the approach to the cemetery that there was no council van at the gate – he told us later that was when he felt something wasn't right.

“He called the council and they said it hadn't been done, and they had to get the grave-diggers to come up, which took about 20 minutes.

“You're sitting there and they're driving past in their wee diggers, and my mum's lying there in the hearse. It was just horrible.

“There were about 100 people standing about wondering what was happening – some of the family couldn't even get themselves out of the car, they just sat there in shock.

“Some of the great-grandchildren were a bit traumatised. It was just heartbreaking.”

Mourners were then told it would take “at least two hours” to dig a lair, forcing a change of plans for the wake at Cowdenbeath Bowling Club.

Elizabeth continued: “A few people couldn't pay their last respects properly because they had to get back to work or had other commitments.

“We had three big limos for the funeral and some of the drivers were meant to be going to Perth for another funeral and the Co-op had to deal with that.

“We had to call the bowling club and tell them we were on the way – we couldn't just sit there for another two hours.

“It was very upsetting having to do the toast to my mum before she was even buried. It just wasn't proper, just not right at all.

“The minister, Reverend Gavin Boswell from Cowdenbeath Trinity Church, went away and came back just after 1pm and did a lovely service.

“We were fortunate that he didn't have any other services to deal with, otherwise that would have been another spoke in the wheel.”

A devastated Elizabeth said the grave “ended up being a rush job”, adding: “Even when mum's coffin was in, it wasn't level.

“Mitch Graham (support and development officer) from the council came up and apologised but that's not enough on a day like that.

“No amount of money can change that day – I just wanted to give mum a good send-off.

“I know there have been cuts at the council but this was just awful. If cuts mean things like this happen, it's time they look at ways of dealing with sensitive situations like this.”

Fife Council's bereavement services manager Liz Murphy apologised for the family's distress.

She commented: “We are extremely sorry for the upset that this incident has caused.

“We are investigating the breakdown in communication that resulted in the grave not being prepared at the correct time.

“The funeral fees have been waived and we have been in contact with the family to offer our sincerest apologies.”