WADESBORO — An Anson County funeral home operator has lost her operating license after regulators say she left unburied bodies lingering for up to five months.

The N.C. Board of Funeral Services revoked the operating permit for F&M McLendon Funeral Home in Wadesboro and the license of its operator, Mary McLendon.

Funeral home operators face criminal citations if they try to provide services without permits.

McLendon denies the claims and says the problem with unburied bodies happened when her funeral home was in foreclosure. Police evicted McLendon after finding three bodies there in 2010.

The state funeral services board says the deceased had been dead between one month and five months. The bodies were sent to another funeral home for cremation and funerals.