The bodies of thousands of aborted and miscarried babies have been incinerated as medical waste in UK hospitals, with some used in “waste-to-energy” plants which generate power for heat.

According to the Daily Telegraph, an investigation carried out by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme revealed that at least 15,500 bodies were incinerated by 27 NHS trusts over the last two years alone.

One of the country’s leading hospitals, Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge, incinerated the bodies of 797 babies below 13 weeks gestation at their own ‘waste to energy’ plant. The mothers were told the remains had been ‘cremated.’ Another ‘waste to energy’ facility at Ipswich Hospital, operated by a private contractor, incinerated 1,101 bodies between 2011 and 2013.

The UK government immediately banned the practice of incinerating human remains by executive order. Junior Health Minister Dan Poulter called it “totally unacceptable.”

“While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals” he said.