A hospital has admitted that it is quite possible the brain of a dead child was removed and destroyed without parental consent.

Three-week-old Marc Clynes died 15 years ago from cot death. Doctors at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, carried out a post-mortem examination on his body.

Marc's parents Paul and Barbie Clynes, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, then buried their son, believing that his body was intact.

However, they say they have now been told that the child's brain was retained for further tests and was later thrown away as medical waste.

Officials at the John Radcliffe said on Monday that the records still had to be fully checked.

But they admitted that it was possible the child's brain was not replaced after the post-mortem.

A public inquiry is currently underway into the wholesale removal of organs from dead children without parental consent at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Merseyside.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Liam Donaldson is also investigating the issue of organ retention.

The issue was first highlighted at the inquiry into the deaths of children who underwent heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

The National Committee Relating to Organ Retention says this is the first case at an Oxford Hospital.

In total 38 hospitals have now become involved in the organ scandal.

The committee is calling for a full public inquiry into organ retention.

It also wants a human tissue register to back up new rules on the retention of organs, published by the Royal College of Pathologists last month.

The guidelines stressed that doctors should always seek permission before removing organs, and should specify exactly what tissue was likely to be removed.