A WOMAN handcuffed herself to a chair in a benefits office after her request for an emergency loan was turned down.

Nicola Nigh, of Darwen, says she desperately needs £700 to repair a faulty fire in her living room.

Police were called out to cut her free after she made her unusual protest when her loan application was turned down at the office in Corporation Street, Blackburn.

She was detained for several hours before being released without charge.

She applied for money from the Social Fund and was offered £35.82 but then was told she could apply for a crisis loan. Nicola went in to the office and was told her request had been turned down. She said: "I wasn't satisfied with the answers I was getting so I handcuffed myself to one of the chairs.

"The police were called and they came to cut me free, but they were very supportive.

"This fire is the only source of heat in my house. I've now got a choice to freeze or endanger myself by putting the fire on.

"The £35 I was offered would buy me a woolly jumper and that's about it."

Nicola, 24, who is on sickness benefits and owns her own home in Argyle Street, Darwen, says she is now at the end of her tether and is considering contacting her MP Janet Anderson.

The problem with her fire, she said, was indicated by a heating engineer a few months ago and she has desperately tried to save up but cannot afford to on benefits.

She was quoted £700 to £300 for a new fire and £400 to fix it.

She was refused a decent amount from the Social Fund because she already had £190 outstanding, which she was paying back, from a loan she took out months ago for clothing and bedding.

She said: "I'm being penalised because I own my own home." A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said he could not comment on individual cases, although confirmed the incident on Monday.

He added: "In arriving at a decision, the individual circumstances of a claim are always taken fully into account.