The man who was in charge of Aberdeen Crematorium during a period now subject to a national investigation has been fired.
The Press and Journal revealed last month that superintendent Derek Snow had been temporarily suspended from his post amid an ongoing inquiry into the disposal of baby ashes.
It emerged last night that Mr Snow is no longer employed by the authority.
Aberdeen City Council had previously refused to comment on reports or confirm any action had been taken against the long-serving boss.
However, a vacancy for a full-time crematorium manager was advertised on a public sector jobs website yesterday.
Senior councillors were also sent an e-mail to inform them that Mr Snow had been removed from his post.
A spokeswoman last night repeated that the council “does not comment” on staffing matters, but confirmed it was seeking to hire a manager.
Mr Snow’s title was superintendent, but a council source said the job description of manager was simply a “modernisation” of the post.
Solicitors representing north-east families affected by the baby ashes scandal say Mr Snow’s removal is a sign of acceptance that “serious mismanagement” had taken place.
Aberdeen City Council’s chief executive Angela Scott announced in June that a new probe would be launched after an allegation surfaced that the remains of infants and adults had been cremated together.
The decision to re-examine working practices was taken less than a year after a separate inquiry found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Aberdeen was implicated in the fallout from a scandal which hit Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh, where ashes of babies were disposed of without the knowledge of parents.
Former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini is leading a nationwide investigation in an effort to find out what happened to every baby who was cremated at several facilities around Scotland.
The previous city council audit, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers in January last year, found the remains of children aged five or under had been scattered in the Garden of Remembrance.
Auditors were unable to check if families had been consulted in 40 instances dating back to 1984.
The report also found there were no cases in the past five years in which ashes had existed but were not returned.
The £30-34,600 crematorium manager role is described as providing “an efficient, caring and sensitive” service to the public.