GOBSMACKED homeowner Janet Raftery was threatened with legal action by council finance chiefs because she owed them 3p.

The mother-of-two was astounded to receive a letter from Bolton Council ordering her to pay up within seven days or face court action.

Mrs Raftery, of Whitehead Crescent, Stoneclough, bought her council house last year and thought she had paid any outstanding rent on the property.

She said: "First I got a letter saying I had to pay up in 14 days, but I just forgot about it because it was such a small amount.

"A couple of weeks later I got another letter saying I had to pay up in seven days or they would take legal action.

"I suppose I must have worked out one of my payments three pence short. But after handing over thousands of pounds to buy the house you'd think they would forget 3p, especially when it cost a lot more to send two letters."

Janet's boyfriend Andy McCall went to Bolton Town Hall to pay off the debt.

She said: "As a joke, he asked if he would be able to pay it in instalments because he was strapped for cash. But they did not see the funny side of it."

Marie Humphries, the council's communications manager for housing, said: "The letters were sent out automatically by a new system. It is not supposed to send out bills under a certain amount which are not worth our while."

She added: "If the lady had phoned up, we would have told her not to bother paying it."