A grieving widow today claimed that a "bungling" vicar turned her husband's funeral into a shambles.

Tracy Kendall, pictured, whose husband Michael died from a sudden heart attack, claimed a catalogue of errors made the funeral at Queensbury's Holy Trinity Church farcical.

Mrs Kendall, 34, of St Wilfrid's Crescent, Lidget Green, said things started to go wrong when the vicar, the Reverend Peter Hedge, turned up half an hour late, keeping mourners waiting in the cold.

She claimed two funeral directors' assistants and a churchwarden had to get him out of bed and when he finally arrived he smelled of drink and didn't apologise to mourners.

Mrs Kendall said once inside the church, the service resembled a TV sitcom.

She claimed the vicar tripped up the altar steps, took off his robe to reveal scruffy clothes, said her husband was going to be cremated not buried and told mourners the wrong name of the pub where the wake was to be held.

Mrs Kendall said the vicar also missed out vital parts of the 46-year--old father-of-three's life story, omitting the 22 years he had spent with his first wife, and finally knocked over a burning candle on a stand, sending it crashing to the floor.

Mr Kendall had a seven-year-old daughter Laura and two other daughters from a previous marriage 17-year-old Amy and 21-year-old Shelley.

Mrs Kendall said: "It was hypocritical. Mr Hedge had lectured me during a home visit about the importance of the funeral service as a way of paying respects.

"Of course it wasn't funny at the time but when people hear about it, it sounds like a joke, like something you'd watch on a sitcom.

"Everything went wrong. I felt embarrassed and greatly distressed.

"He took off his robes to reveal informal clothes, as I had asked him to, but he was wearing scruffy clothes underneath. He looked so dishevelled, he hadn't even brushed his hair."

Mrs Kendall's sister Paula Grundy said: "It was improper. Mistakes like that shouldn't happen at such a distressing time. It was disgraceful."

A spokesman from Lever Ltd Funeral Directors in Thornton said: "We appreciate how distraught and hurt Mrs Kendall feels. A funeral is obviously not something you can re-do. It was an extremely unfortunate incident."

Mr Hedge admitted being late for the funeral but denied he had been drinking alcohol.

He said: "It has all been deeply distressing. I slept through the alarm clock and was woken by hammering on the door.

"It was a mad panic, I threw on the clothes from the night before. I'd fallen asleep in the chair and must have spilled some drink on me - that must have been why Mrs Kendall thought I smelled of drink.

"Everyone has slip-ups from time to time and I'm as capable of tripping up on steps as the next person.

"This has never happened to me before, I deeply regret it. I have done my best to apologise and don't know what more I can do."

Mrs Kendall said she had received a letter from Mr Hedge but said it was not a proper apology and she felt let down by the Church.

She said: "The rural deacon was supposed to come and see me to take my complaint further but he had to cancel the appointment and I've heard nothing from anyone since. I want an apology from as high in the Church as it gets."

The Archdeacon of Bradford, the Venerable Guy Wilkinson, said: "We very much regret this incident and any further distress that was caused to the family at their time of grief.

"I understand the vicar apologised on the day of the funeral and in writing. The rural dean also attempted to visit Mrs Kendall but his car broke down - I understand he still intends to see her."

A spokesman for the Bradford Diocese added: "In the vicar's letter to Mrs Kendall he apologised for the delay and said he did not offer it as an excuse but one of the contributing factors was that he had been up most of the previous night on a particularly distressing pastoral visit with another family and so unfortunately overslept the next morning.

"He wanted her to know that it was a very unfortunate and unprecedented lapse and was not borne out of lack of concern."