Pensioner Sheila Burroughs opened a council tax letter – and read she was dead.
Sheila, of Spark Lane, Mapplewell, was gobsmacked when she saw the council tax adjustment bill from Barnsley Council addressed to husband Laurence – referring to him as the ‘executor of Mrs Sheila Burroughs’.
She’s fuming at the mix-up which happened after she informed the council of her father’s death. Sheila, 65, said: "I had to sit down when I opened it, I couldn’t believe it. They thought I was dead.
"I started to worry what else could have been affected if the council had me down as dead. We can laugh about it now but what’s made this worse is it’s my dad they’ve confused me with and it’s only been a year since he died and is still quite distressing.
"Everything we’ve dealt with for my father’s death we’ve had to provide a death certificate for. But apparently at Barnsley Council all you need to do is press the wrong button on a computer and you’re dead."
The council’s taxation officer Julie Gascoyne has written to Sheila apologising for the distress caused.
