Parents who will never know the whereabouts of the ashes of their dead son said all they wanted was an apology from the undertaker.

Funeral director Roger Barker, 57, escaped a prison sentence when he appeared before a judge at Oxford Crown Court and was given 160 hours community service.

Paul and Sheila Kent were devastated when they discovered the ashes they had been given by Barker were not those of their 27-year-old son Lee, who was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Barker had even driven with the family to Letcombe Downs where they scattered those ashes in tribute to their son.

Speaking outside court, Mr and Mrs Kent, of Grove, said that they were content with the punishment handed out to Barker.

Mr Kent, 55, said: "We said from day one we didn't worry if it was a custodial sentence or not.

"If from day one he had said he was sorry, we would have done no more but he didn't do that. Justice has been done."

Mrs Kent, 51, said: "We'll never know where his ashes are but we can't turn the clock back.

"You never get over a child's death but we'll just have to move on. It's been an awful 18 months."

Barker, of R&H Barker Funeral Directors, was spared a prison sentence. He had received a number of letters of support, including one from a 'high up member of the church'.

Judge Bruce MacIntyre handed Barker 160 hours community service and ordered him to pay £1,500 costs.

He told him he was guilty of a breach of trust and a breach of confidence.

He said: "When clients came to you they trusted you when you provided ashes of deceased relatives. They trusted they were getting the ashes of those relatives."

But he said the deception had been a result of incompetence rather than malice or for financial gain. He added the case had had a devastating effect on Barker's firm, that is still in business.

Funeral directors do not need to be licensed to trade and Barker was not affiliated to either the National Association of Funeral Directors or the Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors.

He said until his conviction Barker had been a man of good character and the numerous letters of support had been taken into account.

Barker was found guilty of obtaining money by deception last month, along with a second charge of forging the signature of client, Bryan Harrow, on funeral documents.

The investigation began in November 2003 after Wantage resident Charles Green contacted the Oxford Mail.

Mr Green had discovered his signature had been forged by Barker on documents relating to his brother Graham's funeral.

Those forged signatures led to Mr Green receiving the wrong ashes after his brother's cremation.

He eventually got his brother's ashes back and the story in the Oxford Mail prompted more families to come forward.

Det Insp Geoff Webb, of Thames Valley Police, said he hoped the Kents could now 'find closure'.

But he added that it was difficult to say how many families could have been affected by Barker's actions. Barker, an undertaker of 25 years, is responsible for two funeral parlours in Didcot and Wantage.

But those businesses, and his reputation, have been left in tatters since he was found guilty of deception last month.