CHRISTMAS COMES LATE FOR 1,444 ELDERLY PEOPLE IN ROSSENDALE & DARWEN

11.08.05pm GMT Sun 1st Mar 2009

Christmas bonus payments for 1,444 elderly people in Rossendale & Darwen to help with winter fuel bills will not be paid until nearly Easter, warns a leading local Liberal Democrat.

According to research carried out by Liberal Democrats in Parliament, nearly one in ten older people will be getting their Christmas bonus at a time when their grandchildren are getting their Easter eggs.

LibDem Parliamentary Candidate Dale Mulgrew is leading calls in Rossendale & Darwen to speed up payments and make sure older residents of the area get their bonus as soon as possible.

"This late payment is appalling," said Mr Mulgrew. "At a time of sky high heating and fuel bills, paying the bonus three months late is just not good enough. There are many older people in the constituency at risk of fuel poverty, and this payment is now being made after the winter heating bills have had to be paid.'

"I am urging the Government to ensure that payments are made promptly next Christmas. Making the elderly wait until it's nearly Easter is just not acceptable."

Steve Webb MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said, "The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, stood up in the House of Commons in November and promised pensioners a Christmas bonus on their winter fuel payments, but clearly this was nothing of the sort."

"It is outrageous that this money will not be reaching pensioners until nearly Easter."

Parliamentary questions by Liberal Democrat MPs revealed that 8.69 percent of bonus payments - nearly one in ten - will not be made until March.