THE grieving parents of a 27-year-old Blackburn man who was found dead in Glasgow claimed today they had been left in limbo by police investigating his death.

Darren Gent died nearly three weeks ago and his distraught parents are still waiting for their son's body to be returned home.

And Raymond and Marjorie Gent said they were still waiting to be told how their son had died.

Darren left his home town of Blackburn four years ago, but kept in touch with his parents, who live in St Aidan's Close, Mill Hill.

Raymond, a 62-year-old shopkeeper, was told of his son's death on May 19. He travelled to Glasgow to identify his son and visited the flat where Darren spent his final days.

He said: "Darren had been involved in drugs, but he was a smart lad and would not take anything which might harm him.

"The police rang me to say Darren had died and they believed it was drugs related and they promised to get back to me.

"Since then I have heard nothing and I have had to ring them several times. I was told they would keep in touch with me but I have had no more information."

Mr Gent added: "I went to Glasgow myself and went to see Darren in the mortuary because I wanted to see him one last time. "I also went to the flat where he lived and it has been ransacked. I don't know if that happened after he died or before.

"The police also told me a post-mortem examination has been carried out, but they have not said when we can bring Darren home.

"The last time I rang I was told the police officer who was dealing with the case had gone on holiday and nobody at the police station knew what was happening.

"For all I know Darren could have been murdered, but nobody is telling us what happened to him. We have been left completely in the dark.

"It has been difficult enough coping with Darren's death but what has happened has made it even worse. At the moment I just cannot face leaving the house."

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said they believed Darren's death was drugs-related and have passed the file on to the Procurator Fiscal, the Scottish equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Procurator Fiscal's office will oversee the inquiry and will also give give permission for the body to be released to the family.

The police also confirmed a post-mortem examination had been carried out and the results sent to the Procurator Fiscal's office.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.