SOUTH East Wales AM Jocelyn Davies is still waiting for a response from the Home Secretary over the St Woolos Cemetery scandal.

Mrs Davies wrote to Home Secretary David Blunkett and the local government ombudsman about the graves mix-up at the beginning of May, after being contacted by concerned constituents.

The Argus exclusively revealed yesterday that a leaked report showed the ombudsman had found Newport council guilty of maladministration.

But a spokesman for the Plaid Cymru AM said she was yet to hear from Mr Blunkett. We revealed the mix-up in March. It concerned people buried in graves in blocks 99 and 101 of the cemetery between 1979 and 1981.

But a number of families only recently realised they had been visiting the wrong graves, when they tried to bury another relative in an affected plot.

The leaked report said the council must issue compensation and another full apology to four families affected who were referred to the ombudsman by Mrs Davies.

The report is due to be heard by the council's overview and scrutiny forum on transport and sustainable development, behind closed doors on Thursday.

A council spokeswoman said: "The scrutiny forum will consider whether to recommend that having reflected on the past 20 years, an existing or a new approach would be better for relatives involved."

She added: "At all times the council has been open with relatives.

"If relatives have asked us to check graves we have done so and will continue to do so. "Graves have also been checked when second burials have occurred.

"In every case relatives have been informed if there has been an error and we have been able to locate their relatives.

"We are confident that there have been no problems since 1981 when new, stringent procedures were introduced."