Doting son John Holtom arrived at his mum's flat to find it empty and padlocked because she had died three days earlier, writes Victoria Owen.

Now he and his brother Jeremy are seeking a major shake-up in the way next of kin are informed when someone dies.

Tomorrow they will take their plea for a judicial review to the Royal Courts of Justice.

Widow Jane Holtom, 67, was on the phone to a friend when she had a heart attack and died at her Oxford home in December.

Police broke down the door to the flat in Thackley End, Summertown, and Mrs Holtom's body was removed for a post-mortem examination.

But the first the brothers knew of the tragedy was when John, 40, a lawyer of St Albans, Hertfordshire, arrived to find the flat empty and the door padlocked. He and Jeremy, 42, a financial consultant of Brackley, Northamptonshire, say they were in a "state of apoplexy'' when they discovered what happened.

They hope the London court hearing will clarify why the police, coroner and their mum's GP all failed to notify them of the death.

Jeremy said: "I felt huge distress and rage when I found out what had happened.

"You die and this is how people treat you without any respect at all. My mother wasn't a fan of conventional medicine and if she knew what had happened after she died, she'd be spinning in her grave."

The GP, Dr Peter Williams, of North Oxford Medical Centre, and Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner were unavailable for comment.

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said there would be no comment from them while the matter was the subject of a judicial review. Jeremy said: "My brother drove over to her house because he was getting increasingly worried that our mother was not returning any of his calls.

"His worst nightmare started to become true when he found the door had been forced open and padlocked shut. There was no notice to explain and he did not know what had happened to her.

"It was a neighbour who eventually told him that she had died.''

"The GP said it wasn't his responsibility to contact relatives. The coroner said it was the police's responsibility and he hadn't got the resources for his staff to start making phone calls like that," Jeremy added.