A PARTIALLY blind 90-year-old woman was shocked to find 13 pages of complex information - to tell her she needed to pay just £11 after a housing benefit miscalculation.

Lancaster City Council has admitted it would like to be able to make the information less complicated, but says its hands are tied by legislation.

But the Heysham woman's son-in-law said she the experience had worried and upset her.

"You needed an A-level or even a university degree to decipher the things they had sent out," said the woman's son-in-law, Lawrence Long: "I can't understand why the council doesn't make it more straightforward.

"When my mother in law first saw the letter, she was extremely worried and didn't understand what it all meant.

It took me all my time to work it out, so what chance did she have?

"Had it just been a straightforward letter telling her she needed to pay £11, we would just have given them a cheque instead of having all this fuss.

" They must be wasting almost as much money as they are saving by sending out all of this nonsense."

Richard Mason, head of the City Council's Revenue Services department said the council's hands are tied by legislation, and the information was made more complex by the fact that it also affected council tax benefits.

"I can understand that this is a great deal of information for a 90 year old lady to understand, but we are driven by legislation on this one.

Even though it is a small amount, the notification for each year takes up a couple of pages.

"I couldn't agree more with what this gentleman is saying and we would like this information to be made much simpler."