(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-05 19:58

A mother cremated a body she thought was that of her dead son, only to find the next day her son was still alive, police said Friday.

The incident began when the body of a man in his 30s was discovered in Manchester, northwest England, on October 12. He was identified as Thomas Dennison by a care worker who knew him.

Police contacted Dennison's mother, Gina Partington, 58, who identified the dead man as her son. The body was released to the family and cremated on October 30.

The next day, Dennisonwas, who was reported missing, was discovered alive in Nottingham.

Partington said the resemblance between the dead man and her son was remarkable.

"I held his hand and kissed his head. I stayed with him for about 40 minutes and would have sworn he was my son," the mother said.

"We held his funeral on Tuesday this week at Southern Cemetery and there were genuine tears, because Tommy is a lovely lad."

The identity of the cremated body has been established and next of kin have been informed, according to Greater Manchester police.

Officials are currently investigating the case to discover why Partington was not told of her son's discovery in the days before she attended the cremation.

Police said in a statement: "This set of circumstances is clearly distressing and urgent inquiries are ongoing to establish how this happened."