A grieving son found an unusual way to remember his dearly departed dad - he’s had his ashes made into a tattoo.

William Mullane was not content with having RIP indelibly inked on his arm, so he went for a portrait made with his dad’s remains instead.

The extraordinary request was a first for Maidstone tattoo artist Brendan Mudd who blended the 72-year-old’s ashes with ink to create the striking image of William snr on Mr Mullane’s arm.

The uncanny likeness took five hours to complete, and a delighted Mr Mullane said: “I was very close to my dad and this way he will always be with me.”

Such was Mr Mudd’s reputation for portraiture and demand for his work, Mr Mullane, 21, booked his appointment back in January and had to wait patiently until last week to have it done.

Lasting an eye-watering five hours, the session took place at the Ink Fish studios in Church Street.

Mr Mullane’s father died unexpectedly at the age of 72 on Christmas Day.

Mr Mullane said: “I was very close to my dad and this way he will always be with me. He will literally be with me forever.”

He travelled from London to Maidstone for his appointment adding: “Brendan’s work is just extraordinary. This is the best tattoo shop I know of and I had to come here for it.”

He brought a small portion of his father’s ashes and photographs of him to work from.

The ashes were ground up in a sterilised mortar and pestle, mixed with ink, and then tattooed into the skin in the normal way.

“I was very close to my dad and this way he will always be with me. He will literally be with me forever” - William Mullane

Mr Mudd said: “It is a tiny bit of extra work for me to mash up the ashes, but that is all.

"We have heard of this being done and our Bank Street branch had done one already, but it is the first time for me.

"I feel quite flattered and honoured to help people with these kind of memorials.”

Mr Mullane claims there was no pain as the portrait took shape. He is the only one of his family to consider such a commemoration.

“My mum thinks it’s a wicked idea,” he said.

Send us your unusual tattoo pictures to multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk