A WOMAN whose mother’s body was moved from a retirement flat without permission and before she could say a loving “goodbye” has urged those with elderly parents to get clear funeral plans in place.

Pam Harrison’s mother Jean was 90 when she died after living happily in a private flat on the Sutton Court retirement development beside Myrtle Park, Bingley.

But the circumstances of her death have left deep scars.

“That was three years ago, but I’ve still not been able to make a proper recovery from it because of the way it was dealt with,” said Miss Harrison, an only child whose mother was also her lifelong, closest friend.”

“My father died when I was 21 and Mum and were always very close.

“She was a great character, twice the Ladies’ Captain at Bingley St Ives golf club and always very active,” said the retired primary school teacher.

Sitting in her cottage in Baildon, she told what happened in January 2013.

“It’s not sheltered accommodation and I was mum’s carer seeing her almost every day.

“She had no illness and was mentally sharp, but she was 90 and frail.

“The day before she died I saw her for lunch, salmon sandwiches - her favourite - and said I’d be round the next morning with some fresh shopping.

“I called her that morning and got no answer and then the next thing was the site manager rang me and just said: “I’m sorry, but your mother has passed away.”

“I was physically sick with shock, I just didn’t know what to do, but somehow I got to Sutton Court and the manager took me into his office and simply handed me my mother’s handbag, rings and a watch and told me her body had already been taken away by a local funeral director.

“I felt as if I was in a horrible film. I’d made promises to my mother I could never keep.

“She’d always said: “If I pop my clogs make sure I look alright.” which I’d said I would. “I also had no chance to hold her and say a proper goodbye - even just five or ten minutes would have been enough.

“But instead it was all so brutally insensitive - the manager knew I was the only relative and how close we were.”

Miss Harrison sold her mother’s flat and last year began asking for an explanation from site owners FirstPort, whose complaints panel carried out a full review and reported in April 2016 that a 50 minute delay in informing Miss Harrison was to blame.

“This is a deeply sad case and we are so very sorry for any distress caused to Mrs Harrison’s family,” a FirstPort spokesman said.

“It is very important we learn lessons from a challenging and upsetting case like this and act on them quickly; not least so that we can show we have done everything possible to avoid a situation like this happening again.

“We have already refreshed and re-communicated current guidance to our staff on dealing with a sudden death. This highlights the importance of deferring to the emergency services to take appropriate action in terms of contacting the next of kin, and the role of our Development Manager in an independent living setting to help facilitate this so that the next of kin is contacted at the earliest opportunity.”