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Adrian Doyle and Alison Scott who are angry the city council is charging them rent on the home of their dead father, Joe Doyle

HARDWORKING pensioner Joe Doyle died without owing anybody a penny - now "cold and callous" red tape has demanded his grieving family cough up his rent for the weeks AFTER he passed away.

The 77-year-old's devastated children are "angry and disgusted" after being told they must pay £144 to City of York Council to cover the time they have spent removing his possessions from his York home.

Their father, who passed away on April 17 from a sudden abdominal aneurism, had painstakingly ensured his affairs were in order and his son and daughter planned to donate money he left behind to the intensive care unit at York Hospital, where he was treated during the last days of his life.

But when Adrian Doyle and Alison Scott went to the council to arrange the return of the keys to the Foxwood council property Mr Doyle lived in for 31 years, they were stunned to learn they must pay the outstanding rent for the period between his death and the handover - despite nobody living there during that time.

They also discovered rent and council tax benefits their father was receiving during his life could not be taken into account when the outstanding rent was calculated.

And within two days of Adrian and Alison giving the council their details as his next of kin, a letter was sent to his former home from the authority's taxation department asking for the information they had already provided. "We're absolutely disgusted - it's cold, callous and heartbreaking," said mother-of-three Alison, 38.

"I can't describe how devastated we are by our dad's death and now this has added insult to injury. He was a stickler for paying what he owed on time and didn't have any debts when he died because he didn't want us to worry about anything - that's the sort of proud, honest man he was.

"We think it's outrageous for the council to demand this money like this. Nobody has even been living in our dad's house since he died - our mother, Josie, died six years ago - and we did the right thing by telling them what had happened and that we needed time to basically take his whole life away from his house.

Joe Doyle

"They could have given us a deadline to hand it back, but instead it's as if they're asking him to pay rent after he died. The money is there and we'll pay it next week once we're ready - we wouldn't give the council the satisfaction of us not doing that - but it could have gone to the incredible hospital staff who looked after him and us.

"It's the principle which seems so unkind and it's made his death even harder to come to terms with. Losing our father is upsetting enough without this."

Since Mr Doyle, who spent much of his working life at York Glassworks, died, his family have been inundated with letters paying tribute to him.

"They all say what a kind, caring, wonderful man he was - we can't put into words what we thought of him," said Alison.

"He would have hated to think he had left us with anything to sort out. We can pay this and we will, but there must be many other people in the same situation who can't afford it. It's a completely uncaring attitude."

Council's view

"We would always handle any family bereavement sympathetically and apologise for any anxiety caused.

"Rent for council property is accrued until the keys for the property are handed in. At this point, the council would recover any outstanding amount from the deceased's estate. We would be happy to discuss any concerns with the family directly if they wish to contact us."

11:14am Friday 2nd May 2008

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