Mystery Ashes Left by Stag Party at Racecourse Burger Van to Be Buried by Vicar

A vicar has been granted approval to inter ashes that went unclaimed for months after they were apparently left behind by a stag party on a day trip to the races.

The urn, inscribed with the name Gary Bonsor, was brought to Newbury Racecourse in Berkshire on July 24 last year – and was later found abandoned on the counter of a burger van.

Racecourse staff tried to identify who it belonged to by writing to ticket holders who attended that day and issuing appeals on social media, but they said ‘nobody responded’. The venue then handed the urn to Thames Valley Police.

Minutes from a Church of England religious law hearing state that police carried out ‘numerous checks’ in an effort to find Mr Bonsor’s next of kin and also approached local crematoriums.

However, despite officers believing they had identified the correct family, those contacted ‘denied any link to the urn’.

With no further lines of inquiry available, officials turned to the nearest church – St Mary the Virgin in Greenham – to ask whether it could offer a ‘permanent resting place’.

The ashes were transferred last September to the picturesque Grade II-listed church, situated about a 10-minute drive from Newbury Racecourse.

Reverend Gail Minter, who sought formal permission for the burial, told a June 21 hearing at the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Oxford – the body authorised to approve the interment of ashes – that laying Mr Bonsor’s ashes to rest in the churchyard would ‘not be inappropriate’.

She said: ‘The churchyard is well used, well-kept, and is full of the graves of local people, many of whom did not profess a Christian faith or come to church so we feel that although we cannot know the wishes of the deceased or the family, it would not be inappropriate to bury the remains in the parish churchyard.’

The officials were also shown photographs of the urn, which bears the wording ‘RIP Gary Bonsor’ alongside a second engraving stating, ‘My Dad, My Hero’.

Granting permission for the ashes to be buried, the Worshipful David Hodge, chancellor of the Diocese of Oxford, said: ‘In the unusual circumstances of this case, and with no registrar’s certificate or coroner’s order available, I well understand why the vicar should seek the authority of a faculty. 

‘It is clearly appropriate that the urn containing these ashes should be reverently laid to rest within the churchyard in accordance with the rites of the Church of England; and that the place and circumstances of the burial should be recorded on the churchyard plan. I grant a faculty for this purpose.’

The church has now been given 28 days to bury the urn within its grounds.  

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Newbury Racecourse said: ‘The urn was discovered after a summer raceday. 

‘We believe the urn had been brought to the raceday as part of a stag party celebration and had been left at one of the Racecourse’s temporary food units.

‘Once the urn was received by the Racecourse attempts were made to reunite it with family. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, which included reviewing all attendees, contacting a crematorium and appeals on social media, the urn remained unclaimed.

‘The Racecourse reached out to the police who suggested they take possession of the urn. As far as the Racecourse is aware the urn remained unclaimed whilst with the police.’

It added that the venue ‘often’ receives requests for ashes to be scattered at the site and a memorial garden ‘believed to be the first of its kind at a UK racecourse’ has been developed for this purpose.

The Daily Mail has contacted Thames Valley police for comment.