A frustrated pensioner claims she tried dozens of times to contact the council for a garden waste payment without success.

Susan Allan has renewed this subscription annually for eight years but encountered unexpected difficulties when the process went online this time.

The 74-year-old from Pinehurst received conflicting messages about whether her renewal had gone through, so she tried to ring the local authority for advice, but to no avail.

As the deadline for payment approached, the desperate resident sent a cheque enclosed in a letter to the Civic Offices which has not yet been cashed.

Swindon Borough Council says issues with her account caused problems with the renewal which has now been processed.

Sue said: “I've tried 56 times and now I'm at my wits' end. It’s usually so easy, I just ring up and pay.

"The online form would say I’m not registered, then I am registered, and then the service was unavailable, so I tried calling instead.

“The voice recognition thing is hopeless. It asks who I want to speak to but no matter who I try, it tells me they’re unavailable, puts me on hold for hours, or says ‘thank you, goodbye’ and hangs up.

“I asked my children, who are more tech-savvy, to sort it but they couldn't get through either. I just want to speak to someone.

"I can’t believe it’s so hard to pay a bill and that there’s no-one on the other end of the line to tell me where I’m going wrong, and I can't be the only one.

"I find it difficult to leave the house, so my garden is my only pleasure, I love tottering around it and making it nice.

"I’ve lived here for 18 years, they have my details. This chaos has caused a lot of anxiety."

An SBC spokesman said: “We’re pleased to report that we have spoken to Mrs Allan and her garden waste subscription has been successfully renewed.

“There were some issues regarding her online account which meant she was unable to renew her subscription in the normal way, but these have all now been resolved.

“Carrying out transactions online is the quickest and easiest way to renew garden waste subscriptions but, in the event that anyone is struggling with this method, we would advise people to call us on 01793 445500 and we will be more than happy to help.”

Susan added: “The lady was very apologetic and said they have had a lot of problems with the renewals this year.”