THE family of an elderly woman who died in a car crash were denied their chance for justice after the coroner's office lost her brain before accidentally giving permission for it to be cremated.

Elisabeth Edwards, 73, from Poole, was involved in a car accident in Bournemouth Road on February 9, 2013.

She suffered major injuries and died in hospital five days later.

However the family faced a second tragedy when Mrs Edwards’ brain – which was due to be examined by a pathologist as part of a criminal investigation into the crash – was cremated with the body.

Mrs Edwards' daughter, Miriam Green, explained that her mother had suffered with a minor stroke the previous year and it was not clear from the post-mortem examination whether her death resulted from the collision or from a similar incident.

"It was agreed that the brain would be removed and sent to a specialist laboratory in Bristol for further examination," said Miriam, who now lives in Cardiff.

"The body was released to us so we could hold a funeral and say our goodbyes and were told we would be told about the findings in a few months."

But what Miriam didn't realise is that her mother's brain had been cremated along with the body - resulting in the loss a vital piece of evidence in the investigation.

"As a result the charge against the driver of the other vehicle had to be reduced from causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving to a lesser charge of driving without due care and attention and he was given six points on his licence and a £350 fine.

"It's really heartbreaking because I just feel that we have lost out on justice for mum."

An investigation into the case by a local ombudsman revealed that when officers went to the mortuary to collect the brain in March staff couldn't find it.

According to the report the senior mortuary officer was on leave and staff believed he might know where the brain was being stored.

The relevant police officer returned to the mortuary in mid April, but it took a further two weeks to establish that the container with the brain was not at the mortuary and had been released with the body for cremation.

"It was unbelievable really to think they had just misplaced mum's brain, but more than anything we were disappointed that the professionals we had put our trust in to deal with mum's case had let us down," added Miriam, who has two daughters.

Unfortunately this was not the end of the tragedy for Miriam, who lodged a complaint about the coroner's office, which falls under the responsibility of Bournemouth Borough Council.

However the council "failed to recognise her complaint as a complaint, or consider it through its complaints procedure".

Helen Rigg, head of registration and coroner’s service, said: “We apologise for any distress caused and accept the findings of the Ombudsman.

“An investigation has been carried out into what happened, including a review into procedures at the mortuary.

“These have now been revised and improved with no further recommendations from the Ombudsman.”

Firdous Patel, lawyer at Slater and Gordon, representing Mrs Green, said: “This was a needless and careless error which ended any chance Elisabeth’s family had of receiving justice.

“We hope that the findings of the ombudsman are studied by the authorities to reduce the risk a similar failing in the future.”