The body of a committed atheist buried in a church graveyard will be exhumed decades after her death following a "fundamental mistake".

Gwendolen Patricia Crow, 58, was killed in a road accident on January 10, 2000. She had hit some black ice, ended up in a ditch, and while she was waiting for help to arrive, another car hit her.

She died later in hospital and was buried ten days later.

However, unbeknownst to her family at the time, she was buried in consecrated ground at a Surrey church yard.

Now, in a rare decision, a judge of the Church of England's Consistory Court has granted rare permission for the staunch atheist’s remains to be exhumed and cremated following a “fundamental mistake”. The court seldom approves exhumations.

In a case which she described as tragic, remarkable and extraordinary, Morag Ellis QC, Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Southwark agreed that the remains of Mrs Crow could be exhumed to then be cremated and scattered elsewhere. She was a keen gardener and her family want them to be scattered in a garden.

The judge said that when Mrs Crow was killed her family were “traumatised” and in such shock that a family friend, Simon Ebsory, who was a practicing Christian, arranged the funeral for them “with the very best of intentions”.