A widower told to pay an extra £700 for the care of his late wife after she died has spent months trying to resolve the issue with Swindon Borough Council.

Michael Bradshaw, 90 was left confused and frustrated after receiving an invoice telling him to pay an extra £700 for the care of his late wife Edna across three months.

He said: “It is hard to lose your wife, let alone have this on top of it."

He had already paid for two of the months and says at no point was he told about an increase in the cost. 

The council has now admitted it did not make this clear to Michael.

He said: “It was hard enough making that money every week and then to have it increase when the person had passed away.

“It is really bad no-one at the council seems to answer the questions.

“It has been affecting me quite a lot.

“It is making me really down, I just don’t want to do anything.

“When you try to resolve it with the council, no one seems to want to know.”

Michael was distraught and paid the usual £2,316.16 for the care provided in June but says he refused to pay the additional money because he had not been informed about it.

Edna was 87 when she died on June 29 last year, having suffered with Parkinson's and mobility issues. Michael received the invoice for the care Edna had received the following month.

When Michael received the invoice he was shocked to discover that the council were asking him for to pay an extra £715.68 for the care Edna had received across April, May and June.

What he expected to receive was an invoice for the usual amount which he had been paying every 28 days since December 2022.

This money was paid each month to the council, which would send out carers four times a day to help Edna with basic day-to-day things such as getting out of bed.

Michael says he then spent the following six months attempting to resolve the issue with the council.

He says he called the credit control, finance and invoicing department of the council on multiple occasions but was either told to contact another department or told that he would receive another phone call, which he claims he did not.

After the Adver contacted the council about Michael’s situation, the local authority got in touch with him on Wednesday, February 14 and informed him that a credit for the £715.68 would be sent to the relevant department and he would not have to pay the amount due.

Michael's daughter, Sandra Holland, 63 explained how much the situation has affected her dad and said he has spent hours on the phone with no luck.

Sandra said: “It is disgusting because my Mum died, and my dad carried on paying the bills.

“It is not right at all.

“We want closure, we want to put it to rest.

“I would like it to be sorted rather than saying I’ll ring you back.

“He isn’t going to pay it but I am worried that bailiffs are going to knock on the door.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said on February 14: “We will contact Mr Bradshaw to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

"We always endeavour to ensure that any price increases are made clear and recognise in this case we have not done so.”