We didn't view Dad's body after being told it had changed so much

Warning - this article contains a graphic description of a dead body.

The following words from Ronald Parkin's autopsy report are forever burned into the memory of his family.

It reads: "There were signs of decomposition present... maggots were seen crawling on his body."

After Ronald's sudden death on 19 August from heart disease last year, his family wanted to see his body to say one final goodbye.

But they were unable to straight away, as he was awaiting an autopsy.

After his body was transferred to the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham on 1 September, the family called the funeral director, which informed them Ronald had changed "considerably", so they decided not to see him.

Ronald's autopsy took place four days later, before his funeral was held on 24 September.

It was not until nearly a month later, on 23 October, that the family made the horrifying discovery of the full extent of how much the 80-year-old's body had deteriorated when they read his autopsy report.

Ronald's daughter, Caroline Parkin, said: "Once I got the email through with the report and I was just looking through it, I was absolutely heartbroken, shocked.

"It was unbelievable what I was reading about the state of my dad's body."

The family then embarked on quest to find answers, and wanted to highlight the condition of Ronald's body.

They say the lack of regulation in the funeral industry has left them with more questions and nowhere left to turn in their efforts to uncover the truth.

And since raising their concerns, Ronald's wife Patricia died on 3 February, never knowing how her husband came to be in such an advanced state of decomposition.

Caroline said a staff member at the hospital - where her father's autopsy took place - told her they believe Ronald's body was not stored in the correct environment.

The funeral director, District and County Independent Funeral Service in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, denies any wrongdoing.

When Caroline got a call from her niece to say Ronald, a former miner, had collapsed at his home in Nottinghamshire, the 49-year-old arrived to find her niece and partner were administering CPR before paramedics came.

Despite their efforts, the father of six was pronounced dead that afternoon, with his body collected by the funeral director that evening.

Caroline said: "He was so kind, so caring, he just adored family, his whole life was about his family.

"He was our king. He was our king and we miss him so much."

Caroline explained the coroner's office called her to confirm her father's cause of death, and asked if she would like a copy of the autopsy report - a medical document created by a pathologist for the coroner after examining a body.

It outlines the medical cause and manner of death, along with internal findings, diseases, and injuries.

Under a section called "external examination", the report detailed Ronald's height and weight along with a description of his body.

The report, seen by the BBC, said: "There were signs of decomposition present... maggots were seen crawling on his body."

Caroline said she called the coroner and asked if this was normal, and was told it was not, and was instructed to speak to the chapel of rest at the QMC, where her father was taken for the autopsy.

She added she phoned a staff member at the chapel of rest, who "expressed that should not have been the state of dad's body when he arrived had he been kept in the correct environment".

"He told me he had emailed the coroner to express his disgust at how dad's body was received," Caroline said.

The BBC has seen a copy of an email sent from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the QMC, to the coroner, in which Ronald is described as "very green and bloated", a process of decomposition that occurs after someone has died.

Caroline said the family felt Ronald was not kept in the correct environment before being taken for an autopsy.

She said: "I'm 100% sure that he wasn't kept correctly, I've spoken to other professional bodies and they have all assured me that if dad was kept in the correct environment, he would not have deteriorated as bad as he did."

The trust has confirmed it also notified the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) immediately about Ronald's case.

However, the HTA is responsible for regulating organisations that remove, store, and use tissue for research, medical treatment and post-mortem examinations - and does not deal with the funeral sector.

The coroner did not respond to the BBC's requests for comment.

The Parkin family said they complained to the funeral director, District and County Independent Funeral Service, which insisted it did nothing wrong.

The family contacted the police, which told them no crime had been committed.

Funeral directors in England and Wales currently operate without government statutory regulation. There are no legal requirements about how and where bodies should be stored, and no qualifications are needed to establish oneself as a funeral director.

The two main trade organisations - the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and the National Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) - have a joint code of conduct, which says members must undergo regular inspections of their premises and procedures.

Best practice suggests bodies should be kept in a clean and clinical environment, with refrigeration units and cold rooms kept between 4C (39F) and 7C (44F).

However, membership is voluntary, and the funeral director that dealt with Ronald is not a member of either organisation.

Both the NAFD and SAIF are urging the UK government to introduce mandatory, statutory regulation of the entire funeral industry to ensure all businesses adhere to a single, high standard of care.

Terry Tennens, chief executive of SAIF, said: "We have spoken to the government and said, could you mandate that funeral directors belong to one or both of the two trade bodies?"

When asked about the 17 days between Ronald's death and his autopsy, Tennens added: "That is a long time, and that's where natural decay will occur, and that's where a family won't be able to visit a loved one.

"This is something that we are raising. We are saying to Westminster that we need to address these issues, there needs to be more resourcing."

Ronald's daughter-in-law Louise Morgan, 51, said: "As a family we are pushing for these regulations to come in sooner rather than later.

"We thought an occupation like that should be regulated at least and checked just to make sure that they are doing what they should be doing.

"We know that there are changes already being discussed, but as a family we want to say these regulations need to be done now, sooner rather than later."

Caroline added: "We will never know the truth, we will never know what happened."

The BBC asked District and County Independent Funeral Service to respond to claims Ronald's body was not kept in the correct environment, and it was asked to confirm the temperature of the room he was kept in and how it was controlled.

The owner of the funeral home, Paul Clampett, did not respond to these questions, but insisted Ronald was kept in a temperature-controlled chapel of rest, and the temperatures were recorded in a book three times a day.

He added this was the first complaint he had received in 35 years.

Clampett cited documents, which stated his business was visited by an environmental health officer from Mansfield District Council in May and June 2025.

The report from those visits, which the BBC has seen, said the facilities were "satisfactory" and a cold room with a capacity for four people was used on site.

A spokesperson for the British Institute of Embalmers was asked about Ronald's case.

"I am not sure that the problems experienced are all the fault of the funeral director," the spokesperson said.

"Decomposition could have been hastened if the patient was in poor health prior to the terminal event. Decomposition could have been further advanced following the administration of resuscitation and intravenous medication.

"There was a delay between death occurring and the medical examiner and coroner deciding that an autopsy was required. Once the patient was transferred to the mortuary, there was a further delay before the autopsy was performed.

"We do not know whether the maggots were observed when the patient was initially delivered to the mortuary for autopsy or when the patient was prepared for autopsy several days later. Is there any way to know that there wasn't another case residing in the mortuary, where there could have been insect activity?

"This is a very sad situation, and it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly what may have happened."

The Labour MP for Mansfield, Steve Yemm, mentioned the case in Westminster and urged the government to overhaul the running of the funeral industry.

Yemm told the Commons he was approached by Ronald's family, who told him about the maggots.

The Fuller inquiry recommended the introduction of a statutory regulatory regime for the funeral sector, but the government has yet to respond to this.

In response to Yemm's concerns, local government minister Alison McGovern said a decision on greater regulation was due this summer.

A government spokesperson added: "We are committed to taking action to ensure the highest standards are always met by funeral directors, and are now considering the full range of options to improve standards."