the wrong man was cremated in place of mep philip bradbourn (pictured) at his funeral in january  a mortuary cremated the wrong body at the funeral of tory mep philip bradbourn in an astonishing mix up which saw the politician's family bid farewell to a stranger with the same name mr bradbourn died shortly after being re elected as an mep for the west midlands the 63 year old had been battling bowel cancer but at a ceremony at bushbury crematorium in wolverhampton on january 16, another man's body was cremated in his place the blunder came after officials confused the politician's coffin with that of philip bradburn, an unknown man whose own funeral had been arranged by social services mr bradbourn's family slammed the mix up after having to hold a second funeral for him the following month the 63 year old died in good hope hospital in sutton coldfield in december after battling the disease his body was taken to the central england co operative funeralcare mortuary, where another man, philip bradburn, also lay mr bradburn died in birmingham's queen elizabeth's hospital around the same time a month after the funeral, mr bradbourn's family were told of the blunder earlier this week politicians gathered to pay their respects to mr bradbourn at st peter’s collegiate church in wolverhampton yesterday tory west midlands mep anthea mcintyre spoke of her horror at learning her former colleague's body had been mixed up 'i attended phil’s funeral in january and it was a smallish affair which was what phil wanted it was very moving and his friends planned a memorial day in march 'i was telephoned by his executor informing me that a man with a very similar name had died and his body was mistakenly cremated mr bradbourn died shortly after being re elected as an mep for the west midlands the 63 year old had been battling bowel cancer  mr bradbourn was taken to bushbury cemetery and crematorium in wolverhampton (above) after losing his battle with cancer  the 63 year old was being treated at good hope hospital in sutton coldfield which has launched an investigation into the incident  another man, called philip bradburn, had also been taken to the crematorium from queen elizabeth hospital in birmingham (above) 'it is deeply distressing and my first thought was there has been a family who have been robbed of a funeral for their loved one 'my understanding is that the gentleman did not have any close family or relatives but nevertheless this should not be allowed to happen mr bradbourn (pictured in 2005) spent 20 years in local government before becoming a political adviser  'the hospital trust has launched an investigation and i know that serious questions have been sent right to the top of government on this issue' it is not clear whose shoulders the mistake falls on but all parties involved said they were conducting investigations into the incident 'we are very sorry that this has happened   we are carrying out a full and urgent investigation between all the parties involved 'this is a rare incident and we are offering support to those close to the deceased,' said andrew catto of good hope hospital, where mr bradbourn died university hospitals birmingham nhs foundation trust, which runs the queen elizabeth, where mr bradburn died, said: 'we have been asked to be part of the investigation into this unfortunate incident and will fully co operate with the parties involved' a spokesperson for central england co operative funeralcare said: 'the society is supporting one of our partners in a full and open an investigation, but is not able to comment further while the investigation is ongoing' mr bradbourn had been a town planning officer in local government for more than 20 years before becoming political adviser to the conservative group at wolverhampton city council he was awarded an obe in 1994 for his public and political service at the time of his death prime minister david cameron led tributes to the 'dedicated' and 'well respected' politician who served in the european parliament since 1999 a memorial service was held at st peter's collegiate church in wolverhampton (above) for the politician in march with senior westminster figures among those there 
january 16 philip bradbourn december 63 philip bradburn wolverhampton
philip bradbourn, 63, died in december after battling bowel cancer  his family held a funeral for him in wolverhampton on january 16  but a mix up by workers saw the wrong body cremated in his place  philip bradburn, an unknown man with a similar name, cremated instead  investigations have been launched by the hospitals and crematorium 