ESSEX coroners’ service has been accused of failing the county’s residents when they are most vulnerable.

Trevor Jarman, 60, of Kelvedon Road, Tiptree, lost his mother, Beryl Robinson, on September 11.

He was advised by his solicitor a post-mortem examination would take place and was told this would normally take up to two days.

However, he then received a call from the funeral company, which told him it had spent an hour trying to get through to the coroner’s office, only to be told eventually the post-mortem would not take place until September 16.

This meant Mrs Robinson’s funeral would have to be re-arranged, and when Mr Jarman spoke to the coroner’s office he was told the reason was it was “busy”.

On September 16, the funeral company was unable to get through to the office and Mr Jarman took over phone duties, calling 20 to 30 times before the phone was finally answered. He was then told the post-mortem would take place the following week and someone would ring him straight back. They never did.

On September 21, after numerous unanswered calls, he was told the post-mortem would take place on the 23rd.

On the 24th, after yet more calls, he was finally told it would take place that day – ten days after the normal wait in other parts of the country.

Mr Jarman is now demanding answers and says he will fight to ensure other families do not go through the same “unnecessary pain, suffering and incovenience”.

He said: “This is a publicly-funded service dealing with families at their most fragile and vulnerable. It is clearly not fit for purpose, failing to process deaths in a timely and professional manner. It seems beyond the service to even answer the phone.

“As a result of its delays and appalling communication, we had to postpone one funeral and nearly the second.”

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “The coroner’s office tries to release a body to allow a funeral to take place at the earliest opportunity.

“The office accepts it took four days to refer the matter for a post-mortem, which is longer than ideal, and apologises for any pain and distress caused to the family as a result. Their complaint will be dealt with as part of the complaints procedure.”