GRIEVING relatives last night reacted with shock and anger after learning body parts of servicemen killed in Afghanistan have been stored at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital without permission.

About six body parts and more than 50 tissue samples were kept by the Royal Military Police without relatives being notified.

The remains were discovered last month when a new manager was appointed at the Military Police’s Special Investigations Branch.

An urgent investigation has been launched, as officials try to identify and inform the families affected.

Heather Wood, 32, from Bicester, whose husband Warrant Officer Class 2 Charlie Wood was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan in December 2010, said she would now be contacting the Ministry of Defence to see if she was affected.

The regional bank manager said: “I’m shocked by this and it’s definitely worrying to think that, potentially, a few miles down the road, there could be parts of Charlie being stored. I will now be making inquiries because I want to know if I am affected or not.

“I have pieced my life back together and suddenly this comes out of the blue. I think this is unacceptable.”

Lee Mackie, from Bampton, West Oxfordshire, who lost her 21-year-old son Jason Mackie in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in May, 2009, added: “I will be contacting Jason’s warrant officer to try to find out more.

“This is a sensitive issue for military families and some people could be very upset by this.”

Royal British Legion county chairman for Oxfordshire Jim Lewendon said: “I think this is quite shocking and the MoD now needs to go to great efforts to liaise with the relevant families.”

Yesterday Major General James Everard, Assistant Chief of the General Staff, said the samples related to 30 service personnel dating back to 2002.

He added: “We owe a huge apology to the families involved and those who will now be feeling stressful even if it doesn’t affect them.”

The body parts were found at the John Radcliffe Hospital, while the tissue samples – which were kept on laboratory slides for matching or identifying the dead soldiers – were discovered at the SIB’s headquarters at Bulford Garrison in Wiltshire.

It is believed that because multiple samples were taken for each case, the number of families affected is likely to be less than 60.

An MoD spokesman said: “There are occasions when it is necessary for the RMP Special Investigations Branch to retain slides of forensic material from individuals killed on operations as part of their investigation – this is standard practice.

“However, the RMP identified there were a small number of cases where this had been done without the correct processes being followed to inform families.

“It is thought there could be 60 forensic items, such as microscope slides, containing material from some individuals.”

The MoD said a change in the way the SIB liaised with families was to blame for the consent not being achieved, adding that when the oversight came to light last month procedures were changed immediately.

Kelly Dodgson, of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (OUH), said mortuary facilities were provided at the John Radcliffe for MoD forensic pathologists to carry out post mortem examinations on members of the armed forces killed in combat overseas.

Ms Dodgson added: “The samples were being stored in an entirely secure and respectful manner.

“The MoD is responsible for liaising with the families of deceased soldiers.”