Wirral Council apologises for 10k care bill error

A council has apologised for a system "glitch" which saw a woman mistakenly receive a £10,000 bill for her home care.

Hannah Broxton-Bell, 27, said she felt her world was "tumbling down" when she got the unexplained invoice.

Ms Broxton-Bell has needed daily care since damaging her spine and right leg in a riding accident when she was 16.

Wirral Council waived the bill but said she would still need to pay £108 a week towards her care.

Ms Broxton-Bell has sever mobility issues which require her to have three home-care visits a day.

Last month, she received an invoice from Wirral Council saying she owed them more than £10,000.

Ms Broxton-Bell said: "I just burst into tears because I don't have that kind of money," adding that she "felt like the whole world was just tumbling down on me."

Graham Hodkinson, the director for adult care and health, said it was "an awful thing to happen" and apologised for the mistake.

He said the council had carried out a financial assessment in 2017 which decided Ms Broxton-Bell could afford to pay £108 a week - but this was never communicated to her and debt accrued.

"And that is our mistake, that is our system glitch - the fact there is a second service been put in place hadn't been captured correctly by the system," he said.

Ms Broxton-Bell disputes the accuracy of the financial assessment and says she cannot afford to pay an extra £108 a week.