It was claimed it can take as long as 15 days before an examination is carried out after a sudden death, leaving the family unable to bury their relative.

Duncan McNeil, Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, branded the situation "unacceptable and inadequate".

Mr McNeil, who has raised the issue with Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, said he was aware of a case where a person died on the seventh day of a month, but the post-mortem did not take place until the 22nd, leaving the family unable to hold a funeral until the 26th. He claimed the average time between death and post-mortem at the Southern General Hospital was 10 days, but Mr MacAskill said he believed the timescale was only a few days.