Christmas Comes Late For 22,000 Elderly People In West Worcestershire

3.31.00pm GMT Mon 2nd Mar 2009

Christmas bonus payments for over 22,000 elderly people in West Worcestershire to help with winter fuel bills will not be paid until nearly Easter, warns a leading local Liberal Democrat.

According to research carried out by Liberal Democrats in Parliament, nearly one in ten older people will be getting their Christmas bonus at a time when their grandchildren are getting their Easter eggs.

West Worcestershire's Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, Richard Burt is leading calls to speed up payments and make sure older residents of the area get their bonus as soon as possible.

"This late payment is appalling," said Richard. "At a time of sky high heating and fuel bills, paying the bonus three months late is just not good enough.

"I am urging the Government to ensure that payments are made promptly next Christmas. Making the elderly wait until it's nearly Easter is just not acceptable."

Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said, "The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, stood up in the House of Commons in November and promised pensioners a Christmas bonus on their winter fuel payments, but clearly this was nothing of the sort.

"It is outrageous that this money will not be reaching pensioners until nearly Easter."