A Norfolk council has apologised after ‘human error’ led to a letter being sent to a widower about his own death.
South Norfolk Council told Stuart Dobson, 77, it was ‘sorry to hear’ he had died and informed him he could get a council tax exemption.
The letter was sent one month after his wife of 54 years, Ann, had died.
Mr Dobson was subsequently forced to write back to the council to let them know he was alive.
‘I have been up there to give them a letter, I've hand-delivered it to the council, telling them, “Do I look dead to you?”’, his response read, according to the BBC.
‘It's an utter shambles. They're asking me to fill in forms when they think I'm dead. It doesn't make sense. I don't need this at all.’
A council spokesperson said: ‘The council has apologised to Mr Dobson for the mistake made when updating our records following the death of Mrs Dobson and we regret that our mistake has caused Mr Dobson upset at this difficult time.
‘We have reviewed what happened and unfortunately this was a case of human error for which we are deeply sorry.’
