A COUPLE whose daughter drowned in the Boxing Day Asian tsunami have condemned the actions of the British Government in the aftermath of the disaster.

John and Daphne Gough, of Hartford, have criticised the 'ineffective management and poor communication' of the Government after their daughter Rachel Quinn's body wasn't returned home for two months.

They say the delay came despite the fact they provided information needed for identification immediately after the disaster.

Speaking in London after an inquest into their daughter's death, on Thursday, the couple said: 'We would like to thank our family, friends and work colleagues for their support since the tragedy.

'Regrettably our expression of gratitude must exclude the UK Government. We lost someone who was a wife, daughter and sister in the tsunami and throughout the appalling aftermath of this disaster, our experience of the UK Government has been one of ineffective management and poor communication with the families affected by this tragedy.'

Det Chief Supt Nick Bracken, who led the identification efforts in Thailand, said the sheer scale of the disaster caused communication problems. He said: 'There were a lot of people that needed to be identified and 32 countries communicating with each other trying to establish which person was from which country.'

Mrs Quinn, a former Sir John Deane's College student, moved to Hong Kong in October 2004.

The coroner recorded her death as being caused by drowning as a victim of the tsunami.