By JOEL SAWYER

A HEARTBROKEN dog owner has spoken of her anger towards a pet crematorium which, she claims, ruined her last chance to say goodbye to a long-time and beloved companion.

But staff at Glazebrook Pet Crematorium claim that Wendy Austridge's complaint has come about because of an unfortunate misunderstanding.

Mrs Austridge had chosen to cremate Ben, her 13-year-old Yorkie-poodle crossbreed, at Glazebrook because of its individual and unique service.

She and her husband Brian had hoped to watch Ben pass through the cremator's gates on a TV screen as they bade him one last, fond farewell last month.

But a problem with the cremator meant that the couple had to return to the crematorium later in the day.

Mrs Austridge, from Kingswood, said: "We were told that the cremator wouldn't be fixed until at least noon and we arranged to come back between 3pm and 4pm.

"So we went back home, but I had a gut feeling that something was wrong and called back to double check the time. It was then I was told that Ben was already being done.

"We rushed back to the crematorium, but all we got was an apology. We didn't get an explanation.

"I had spent 13 years of my life looking after Ben. He was such a lovely little dog who had given us so much pleasure.

"I hadn't taken a holiday in almost 13 years because I didn't want to leave him in a kennel and this was our last chance to say goodbye to him but it was ruined. I am heartbroken."

A spokesman from the crematorium said: "We explained to Mr and Mrs Austridge that there was a problem with the cremator and that they could come back between 3pm and 4pm to pick up the ashes.

"When Mrs Austridge phoned up and we explained that Ben was already being cremated, we realised that there had been a misunderstanding. We offered a free casket as compensation, but it was not accepted.

"We offer out sincerest apologies to them. This really was an unfortunate misunderstanding."

Edwina Greenwood, Warrington's principal trading standards officer, said that there had been no other complaints brought against the crematorium since it opened two years ago.