A heartbroken mother whose son's ashes were lost by Royal Mail has been told she will not receive compensation, as officials claimed the remains had "no intrinsic value". The mum, who asked not to be named, lost her 27-year-old son to suicide two years ago.

She had planned to bury his ashes near where he grew up in Sussex and sent them First Class to a friend. However, when the urn failed to arrive, she contacted Royal Mail, which admitted it had been sent to the wrong address. Three months after her complaint, the grieving mother received a letter stating the maximum compensation available for the loss was £20 – a payment the postal service argued was due to the ashes' lack of "intrinsic value". In the end, the Royal Mail sent a £50 cheque as a goodwill gesture.

The letter added insult to injury by pointing out that the 409g package was 359g heavier than the postal limit for human ashes, making it "prohibited" to send in the first place.

The woman told The Sun: "Royal Mail have no compassion at all. No money could replace my son’s ashes. They were priceless. I just want to know what happened to them."

In December, The Telegraph claimed Royal Mail workers were told by higher-ups to "fake deliveries" in order to ensure management bonuses.

Several employees alleged that they were instructed to mark parcels as 'inaccessible,' even when no attempt had been made to deliver them.

Some workers said they were asked to comply with this request 'three or four times' in a single month, describing a 'culture of greed' within senior ranks, where bosses sought to inflate performance metrics to guarantee bonuses of up to £5,000 annually.

The whistleblowers, speaking on condition of anonymity, provided further details, suggesting that this could be part of a wider problem within Royal Mail.

Postal minister Justin Madders called the allegations "disturbing" and called for an investigation.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "We are truly sorry for the loss of this important item. We did everything we could to try to locate it but sadly without success on this occasion."

Speaking about the fake delivery claims in December, another spokesperson said: "There is no bonus incentive that would encourage items to not be delivered. This would be counter-intuitive to our business as a delivery company.

"A property is only identified as ‘inaccessible’ if we cannot access the building, it is unsafe to deliver, or adverse weather prevents delivery."