So are there any places out of bounds to mourners?

There are no banned areas enshrined in law, and that includes the nostrils, says a spokesman at the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

"There's nothing in the Cremation Act 1930 to restrict people in disposing of the ashes," he says.

"There are physical environmental concerns, so if someone dies and his house is under new ownership and his loved ones spread the ashes on the vegetable patch, there would be an issue.

"But that comes under the same legislation as if litter was thrown on someone's property."

People can deposit them where they wish, says Leonie Kellaher, a professor of anthropology who is working on a study of the scattering of ashes.

"But there are warnings about not putting them on private land without the owner's permission, and people are expected to be 'sensitive'. But no-one is watching, or censoring this activity with ashes."

Some clergy are opposed to the remains being divided up among family members, she adds.

And although not backed by legislation, some popular locations have moved to warn bereaved relatives off their sites.

Football fans

Last year, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland said the soil on some of the summits was being damaged.

And boaters who cruise along the River Soar in Leicestershire have said if mourners continue to sprinkle ashes in the water - particularly popular among Hindu and Sikh mourners - the river will become unusable.

Some football clubs have opened special memorial gardens for the ashes of fans, to stop the pitch being used.

Tighter regulations exist in other parts of northern Europe, says Prof Kellaher. And there are some EU rules restricting scattering in the sea, especially along the North Sea coast.

The scattering of ashes is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the 1970s, only about 12% of ashes were taken away by loved ones, the rest staying at the crematorium. But by 2005 that had risen to nearly 60%.

Over that time cremations have risen sharply, but the figure is now pretty steady at about 70%.

Most are buried or scattered in a garden at the crematorium but personal ceremonies are becoming more off-beat as people think ahead to plan their own funerals.

The ashes of gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson were put in fireworks and launched from a 150ft tower in Colorado. And in 1997 the remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were fired into outer space aboard a Spanish research satellite due to orbit the Earth for six years.

It's even possible to get a loved one's remains made into a diamond, or even a vase, says Caron Staley of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath.

"People are talking a little bit more about it and TV programmes like Six Feet Under and Desperate Housewives means it's more in the minds of people."

Richards' snorting claims may have provoked outrage, but Professor Kellaher says ingesting ashes is not entirely unheard of.

"A few people had looked at, and touched the ashes and remarked on the texture. One or two had tasted them - inadvertently, or deliberately - but we are talking about a finger tip of ashes - not ladles!"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6529215.stm