A MAN who has refused to collect his wife’s body from a hospital mortuary for nearly two years has been told she may have to be moved.

The body of Violet Lakey has not been collected from the Medway Maritime Hospital mortuary at Gillingham since she died from cancer of the liver in January 2006.

Her husband, Mike, has refused to collect the body because he believes his wife’s death may have been suspicious. He has called for more tests and an inquest before she is put to rest.

But Hospital chiefs have informed Mr Lakey his wife’s body may have to be moved under Public Health laws.

A spokesman for the Medway Maritime Hospital said: "We are in correspondence with Mr Lakey and if he has any queries we would urge him to contact us directly."