A rector in the Diocese of Portsmouth has been fined for taking cremated ashes out of one plot and putting them into another without permission.

It followed confusion after the rector discovered that the original plot which already contained the remains of another family member, was not in the correct location in the churchyard. 

A relative of the deceased had pointed out the day before the interment that the hole  was in the wrong area, so a new plot was dug in the supposed correct location. The ashes were then placed in this hole, but afterwards the verger said it too wasn’t in the correct place. After consulting the plan of the graveyard, the rector accepted that a mistake had been made and said the ashes should be moved.

The day after the interment, the rector dug up the ashes and they were reinterred in the correct plot, with the family present.

However, the cleric hadn’t obtained the correct permissions or a faculty from the diocese. He’s now been told by the diocese’s Consistory Court to pay the costs of preparing its judgment.

The Diocese of Portsmouth’s Chancellor John Summers said he was satisfied that the rector had made a genuine mistake and had dealt with the situation in an “honest and pastorally sensitive manner”.  

The family has accepted an apology from the rector who said procedures would be reviewed to avoid a similar situation.