A WIDOW has been threatened with bailiffs for a benefit debt of £67 she received to help bury her husband who hanged himself 10 years ago.

Debra Rez, of Albert Street, Burnley, was left distraught when she received the letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) yesterday.

And, in a cruel twist of fate, she was told to pay the money back by July 6 – the anniversary of her first husband Graham Eastwood's death.

The 43-year-old said: “I am really upset with what has happened.

"It has been ten years and things like this bring back painful memories.”

The payment was issued to help with funeral costs as her husband, who was found hanged in Todmorden's Centre Vale Park, was unemploymed.

She has since remarried and her new husband Martin, 50, said the letter couldn't have come at a worse time.

Martin, who met Debra after the death of her husband, said: “People need to know how ridiculous this whole thing is.

“How on earth has it taken them ten years to send this letter and why are they threatening bailiff action now?

“My wife is so upset now because the deadline for the payment falls on the anniversary of Graham’s death, which is next week, so the timing is just appalling.

“She does not receive benefits so to be told this by the DWP is just wrong.

"All the pain surrounding that event has been made a lot worse for my wife because of this letter. It is just not the way things should be done.”

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle slammed the Pensions Service for issuing the bill.

He said: “The letter is insensitive and ludicrous.

“It probably cost the DWP more money to find her after all this time than the bill for £67.31.

“If it was a bill for £60,000 then of course it would be justified, but chasing a lady for sixty quid more than ten years after the event is just ludicrous.”

Pension bosses have now decided to withdraw the demand after an approach from the Lancashire Telegraph.

A spokesman said: “While we always pursue outstanding benefit overpayments, we have considered the latest circumstances of this case and decided not to take any further action.”

The DWP added they would continue to follow up any unpaid funds.