A grieving mother has been waiting 16 months for an inquest date to find out how her daughter died.

Margaret Winder, 75, says she has been trying to get in touch with West London Coroner’s Court since her 50-year-old daughter Alexis Fallon was found dead at the Victoria Road YMCA, in Surbiton in May 2014.

Ms Winder says she has had little contact from staff at the court and claims she has been struggling to speak to anyone about when she can expect to find out more about her daughter’s death.

The great-grandmother said she had tried to phone the court recently to find out more details about when the inquest would take place.

She said: “A few weeks ago, I thought blow it, and I stayed on [the line] and persevered.

“I heard the message finish and just hung up. It’s upsetting, it’s just too long. In the time you are waiting you get anxious and upset. It’s not a pleasant thing to be dealing with so I just gave up and put the phone down.”

Kingston and Surbiton MP James Berry has now taken up her case.

He said: “For a bereaved person to have to spend over an hour on the telephone waiting to speak to someone at the coroner’s to find out when they can bury their loved one is totally unacceptable. This case, brought to me by a bereaved constituent, is by no means isolated, so I went to see the chief coroner himself.

“It is clear that there are not enough administrative staff at West London Coroner’s Court and I have written to the chief executive of Hammersmith and Fulham Council urging him to sort this out.”

Guidance states that inquests should be held within six months of a death, except in exceptional circumstances.

But major inquest backlogs have been reported at the court.

Senior coroner Chinyere Inyama is also under investigation after he reportedly left a file on murdered 14-year-old schoolgirl Alice Gross on the train.

Ms Winder, of Tapping Close, Kingston, said: “I wouldn't think it would take 16 months to delve into her [Alexis] past. I understand all that [the process before an inquest takes place], I do, I'm not stupid, but I just think enough’s enough.”

Neither Hammersmith and Fulham Council nor Mr Inyama was able to comment.