Controversial plans to remove the body of a Victorian cardinal from his Worcestershire resting place to a new location in Birmingham took a new twist after his remains were found not to be in his grave.

Cardinal John Henry Newman’s coffin was opened at the Catholic Church’s instruction in preparation for his body to be removed to the Birmingham Oratory ahead of his anticipated beatification.

But an exhumation of Cardinal Newman’s grave at the Oratory Country House, Rednal, revealed his coffin was not lead-lined and his body had disintegrated.

All that was found was a brass plaque from the cardinal’s coffin and pieces of tassel from his hat.

Peter Jennings, spokesman for the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory, said the process for the cardinal to be made a saint would still go ahead.

He said: “In the view of the medical and health professionals in attendance, burial in a wooden coffin in a very damp site makes this kind of total decomposition of the body unsurprising.

“The absence of physical remains in the grave does not affect the progress of Cardinal Newman’s cause (to be made a saint) in Rome. The Birmingham Oratory has always been in possession of some actual physical remains of Cardinal Newman. These consist of some locks of hair.”

The brass plaque and tassels, along with the locks of the cardinal’s hair, will be placed in a casket.

Cardinal Newman is in line to become the first non-martyred English saint since before the Reformation. A final decision by the Vatican is expected next year.

The step-by-step process for his beatification began at the Birmingham Oratory in the late 1950s and continued with Pope John Paul II declaring Newman to be Venerable in January 1991.

In order for Newman to be beatified – the next stage in the process towards sainthood – a miracle needs to be credited to him by the Vatican.

It is investigating a claim that Jack Sullivan, a deacon from Boston, Massachusetts, was cured of a serious spinal disease after praying to the cardinal.

Last month gay rights activist Peter Tatchell accused the Vatican of “grave robbery”, claiming it wanted to move him away from the grave of lifelong friend Fr Ambrose St John, who some historians say was his homosexual lover.

Mr Tatchell claimed the church could not stand the thought of the religious leader being homosexual.

Cardinal Newman stipulated in his will a desire to be buried beside Fr Ambrose St John.

However, the Catholic Church denied Cardinal Newman was gay and insisted his body was being put in a new grave at Birmingham Oratory to make it easier for pilgrims to get to ahead of his beautification. Cardinal Newman died on August 11, 1890, aged 89, and was buried at the Oratory House in Rednal eight days later.

The Very Reverend Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, said: “The lack of substantial physical remains does nothing to diminish our deep reverence for Cardinal Newman.”

The public will have an opportunity to see the casket during a vigil of prayer, which will be held from October 31 to November 1 at the Birmingham Oratory in Edgbaston.

A special High Mass will take place on Sunday, November 2, at the Oratory.