A DISTRAUGHT York mother says she has no idea how she will feed her family over Easter after tax credits chaos left her almost penniless.

Shirley Williams was in tears when she contacted the Evening Press to say: "I have literally nothing to buy food, and pay for the electricity and gas, which are on meters, for the next two weeks. I have got just £1.50 in my purse.

"It's the Bank Holiday so I have no chance of getting a loan. I am desperate. How am I meant to survive? My cupboards are bare. "

Shirley, 38, of Stuart Road, Acomb, phoned the paper after we reported yesterday that hundreds of readers were suffering major difficulties in claiming the new Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which came into effect on April 7.

People told us they had applied months ago, but were still waiting to hear what payments they were to receive, and were unable to get through to an Inland Revenue Helpline for days on end.

Shirley, who has a teenage daughter and son, said she had previously been on Working Families Tax Credit and applied in November for both Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, which she thought would work out at about £70 per week. She had still heard nothing earlier this week, so tried to ring the helpline.

"I tried phoning on the hour, every hour, but couldn't get through for three days.

"When I eventually did get through, I was told it would be another fortnight before I heard whether I would get my payments. I now have nothing until May 2.

"I have never been in a situation like this before and I never want to go through it again.

"For some people on low incomes, this money is vital. I could understand it if some people felt forced to go out and steal food to feed their families."

Earlier this week, an Inland Revenue spokesman claimed that the number of people affected by the problems was small, and mostly involved people who had applied after the deadline of January 31. But this was disputed by another reader who contacted the paper yesterday to claim many people who had applied in time were affected. She said: "It's absolute rubbish."

Updated: 10:36 Saturday, April 19, 2003