Millionaire's daughter lives on state hand-outs

Angela Margerison, 23, struggles to pay bills as her self-made millionaire father, Stephen, enjoys luxury breaks on his Spanish yacht.

But the Blackburn mother, who has a four-year-old-son, Zak, says she is happy with her situation, which once saw her living in a tiny bedsit.

Today she hit out at "gossips" who criticised her for claiming £64.70 Income Support and child benefit of £68 a month.

Angela, who faces having her electricity cut off over an unpaid £38.75 bill, said: "I'm a millionaire's daughter but I don't lead the life everyone expects."

Her house is owned by a family trust.

"My father pays the rent and I have the use of his new Fiat Punto car but after that I'm independent.

"I manage really well on the £64.70 I get a week. I spend it mainly on food and clothes and there's not much left after I shop at Asda and Iceland.

"But we survive and we're happy. Anyone who has a millionaire for a father would love a handout and so would I, but my father isn't like that. "He told me to stand on my own two feet and I'm happy with that."

Stephen Margerison, 49, is a self-made millionaire who sold his Exhaust Centre business to a national chain before buying nursing homes.

Mr Margerison became the focus of national attention four years ago when a TV documentary highlighted claims of low pay by his nursing home staff.

Angela added: "I have a £500 overdraft which I can't pay off and has now been recalled and my bank balance is non-existent.

"I've heard my dad's fortune put at between £7million and £14million but I wouldn't have a clue. Money is something we have never discussed.

"I've lived in a bedsit and had a house repossessed. The Child Support Agency are currently chasing Zak's father to get him to pay something.

"There was only one time my dad helped me out and that was when I got behind with a small loan."

Angela, who is currently looking for a job, has been claiming Income Support for a year since she was fired from her job as a customer service adviser with Nynex for taking too many sick days. She says she applied for housing benefit once but was refused when officials found out about her father's wealth and her housing arrangement.

The smart three-bedroom detached house is on an up-market estate in the south of Blackburn and is tastefully decorated.

Angela says a modern, large TV and other furnishings in the house belong to her father, along with an old sofa.

She added: "I'm tee-total. I have no problems about the money I claim and I'm happy with the amount. "I am an independent, single mother and I need the money I get to survive. I'm not doing anything wrong."

She said she did not know if the Benefits Agency knew her father was a millionaire because she had never been asked.

Mr Margerison said he did not have any problems with how moral it was for a millionaire's daughter to be claiming benefit.

He said: "I have always told my children to stand on their own two feet and I never helped Angela until I saw she was getting into some real difficulties.

"I wasn't prepared to see her sink further into the mire and so I did step in. But she is entitled to that small amount of Income Support she claims.

"I suppose I do have a different attitude to money because my wealth was self made. I still play the Lottery, which some people criticise me for.

"I never discuss my money and although I'm helping Angela out a bit now my wish is that she studies and finds a job, which I'm sure she will do."

A Benefits Agency spokesman said there was nothing wrong with Angela's Income Support payments.

He said: "As long as the father is not providing any money and the daughter and her child do not have savings then she is entitled to Income Support in her own right.

"The fact her father provides a house rent-free is a saving to the state because otherwise the state would be paying for part or all of her rent or a mortgage.

"It all appears to be above board but I'm not going to get into the morals of it all."

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