Staff at a funeral firm in Bath have been disciplined after a mix-up which saw the wrong body sent for cremation.

The Co-op's Funeralcare arm has apologised for the blunder which it described as an "unfortunate identification error".

The firm, which has a branch at Pulteney Road, admitted to the mistake which saw the wrong body cremated at Haycombe Crematorium.

But it is not known whether that body had been scheduled to be cremated or buried.

A spokeswoman for the funeral service said the matter had been dealt with and that the families had been informed.

She said: "Regrettably, we can confirm that an incident occurred as a result of an unfortunate identification error.

"This was acted upon promptly and disciplinary action was taken against staff members concerned."

It is not the first time such an incident has occurred at the firm.

The body of a woman due to be buried was, instead, cremated at the funeral of a man nine years ago.

Funeral directors were forced to apologise to the two distressed Bath families when they delivered the woman's body to Haycombe Crematorium in place of the man's.

It is believed that that error occurred after the body of a woman was mistakenly collected from a local hospital instead of a man and the worker responsible was said to have been "severely disciplined".

The body of the man was later cremated and the ashes of the woman were then placed in a coffin and buried.

The Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for coroners and inquests, said it was aware of the latest problem.

A spokesman said: "Coroners have a duty to establish the identity of people into whose deaths they are required to hold an inquest.

"Identification can be made by various methods and it is for the coroner to decide which are most effective in any individual case.

"Cremation authorities have no responsibility for identifying the body of the deceased and will rely entirely on others when a coffin is presented to them for cremation."

The Co-op declined to say whether anyone had lost their job as a result of the latest mix-up.