AN investigation has been launched after an elderly woman claimed she returned from a winter holiday to find her pension book had gone missing.

Vera McNally, 79, who was in the RAF throughout the Second World War, had to wait ten weeks for her money to be paid.

She said the missing book meant she was unable to claim £800 in payments.

Vera, of Woodstock Crescent, Feniscowles, has been using the Livesey Branch Road Post Office, Blackburn, for the past 22 years and goes there every week to draw her £75.51 pension.

She goes away with her husband, John every November for ten weeks and saves her pension, along with the Christmas bonus, to pay outstanding bills when she returns.

She said: "When we got back my new pension book was not at the Post Office. I have had to borrow the money to pay my bills, which is just ridiculous."

The couple reported the incident to the police as soon as they got home but they were told they could not do anything as it was a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) fraud squad to investigate.

It is now in the hands of the DWP. A spokesman for the Post Office said that they would be working in conjunction with the fraud squad investigation, to discover if a theft had taken place.

John McNally, 76, said he wanted some action to be taken immediately because they had waited long enough for the money to be paid back.

He said: "It is not Vera's fault, but she is the one that is suffering."

DWP spokesman John Lees said the outstanding money had now been paid to Vera but the investigation was continuing.

He added: "We cannot comment on individual cases. However, in circumstances such as these, the department would ensure that full, current entitlement is in payment. Any benefit not received is subject to a full investigation and the customer will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible.

"We understand that Mrs McNally had been waiting for ten weeks, but we are unable to put a time span on things like this."

The manager of Livesey Branch Road Post Office is away on holiday. No-one was unavailable for comment.