84-year-old threatened with eviction over 1p

Francis Weston received a letter from his council landlords warning that he could lose the house unless he paid up immediately.

The 84-year-old great-grandfather said the threatening letter gave him the fright of his life until he realised how little he owed.

But when Mr Weston, from Walworth, went to pay the outstanding sum he found he had no change, forcing a Southwark council employee to pay the arrears, highlighting the trivial nature of the threat.

"The whole thing is ridiculous," said Mr Weston. "I thought the world had gone mad."

He said: "When I first received the letter, I was very worried, it nearly blew me out. But when I saw the amount I owed, I thought it was a joke. I immediately went to pay the 1p but only had a £5 note on me. When I got to the council offices, they said they had no change."

He added: "The woman behind the counter checked five different tills before putting a penny from her own pocket into my account.

"After all that, I couldn't believe they actually had to pay the sum themselves. I said I wanted a receipt though, just to make sure my debt was cleared."

Mr Weston, a retired telephone engineer, moved to the house on the Aylesbury Estate with his wife in 1960. She died in 1990.

The letter stated: "You have arrears on your account. Please pay this immediately... Please treat this letter with the seriousness it deserves.

"You are at risk of losing your home." Mr Weston said: "It must have cost them about £10 just to chase me up, what with getting someone to work out what my rent payments are and doing all the writing and then paying the postage.

"I have no idea how they worked out I owed a penny. I usually pay two months in advance because I'm elderly and I want to make sure it's all right.

"There must be hundreds round here who owe far more money to the council — maybe they'll go broke if they don't have that penny."

Questioned about the arrears letter, a Southwark spokeswoman said: "This standard letter was sent to inform the tenant of a rent increase and included information on his account balance.

"Clearly, the tiny amount outstanding on Mr Weston's account was not a cause for concern and the letter should have been adapted accordingly."