A HARD-working single mother was told by blundering government officials that her benefits had been stopped – because she was dead.

Natalie Williams, 35, of Hawkins Crescent in Bradley Stoke, was stunned to hear of her passing when she rang HM Revenues and Customs in July after noticing her working tax credit payments had suddenly stopped.

The mum-of-two then had to go to the Inland Revenue offices at Nova House in Bond Street with identification to prove she was still alive and they agreed they had made an error and would reinstate her payments.

Now, two months on, Miss Williams, who works part-time as a care assistant, has still not had the £190 a week payments restarted and estimates she is owed around £1,700.

The mistake means her housing benefit of £251 a fortnight has been suspended because she is unable to provide accurate information about her income.

Despite fortnightly emergency payments it has meant that she has struggled to pay off bills and feed and clothe her two sons – Samuel, three, and Charlie, two.

Miss Williams, who earns around £500 a month, said: "I'm at the end of my tether.

"I am a single mum with two children and work part-time as a care assistant and get working tax credits.

"I realised after a couple of weeks that my payments had stopped so rang the council who told me the payments had stopped because I had died on June 7.

"I told them I was very much alive but they said I had to go to the council offices with identification to prove I still existed.

"They also said a letter had been sent to my address asking the next of kin to provide details of my death but that letter has never arrived.

"It is now two months on and despite them saying they will reinstate my working tax credits they have still failed to do so and they owe me the best part of £2,000.

"They have been giving me emergency payments every fortnight but the situation has affected my housing benefit so I have had to spend that money on paying rents and bills instead of on food and clothes for my two boys.

"Now I have had a bailiff knocking on the door because I have not been able to keep up my repayments on the car and it is getting ridiculous.

"If this was my mistake I would understand but this is their fault and I am suffering because of their cock-up – it's not right. I have been ringing them every single week to get this sorted but nothing has happened. I am not a benefit scrounger. I am a hard-working single mother who is doing her best to look after her children."

Lisa Billard, of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said:

"We are very sorry to learn of the difficulty experienced by this lady and are investigating the situation.

"Although we are unable to comment on the detail of individual cases due to claimant confidentiality, I can confirm that an advisor has already spoken with this lady to ensure that she receives any outstanding tax credits payment this week.

"We will consider reimbursing costs incurred as a result of this error, monitor the matter to make sure the correct monies are paid in future weeks and that our records are updated accordingly."