A RELIEVED mother has finally received a desperately-needed Inland Revenue payment - backdated to December - after the Shuttle/Times and News highlighted her plight.

Courtney Roberts, from Stourport, approached the newspaper in desperation after battling for five months to get her working tax credit claim, worth hundreds of pounds, sorted out.

The day after the 30-year-old's story was featured in last week's edition the Inland Revenue paid the money owed to her from December 7 to March 31 into her bank account.

Mrs Roberts, of Wivelden Avenue, Wilden Top, who has two daughters, aged five and two, said: "It's amazing what can happen when the press come on board."

"I am relieved that it's settled but I'm also annoyed. The fact that they acted quickly when the press contacted them shows that they could have sorted it out easily all along.

"They thanked the Shuttle/Times & News for bringing it to their attention. I've been ringing them three times a week so what was I doing?"

Mrs Roberts said website messages from mothers indicated that she was not alone in experiencing long delays in claims being processed - with some women waiting more than a year.

She now has to wait for her claim for payments covering the new financial year to be processed and is hoping that will be dealt with promptly.

Problems started for the part-time receptionist when she and her husband separated five months ago and she was told to make a new claim as her circumstances had changed.

She was forced to increase her overdraft to its maximum and borrow from friends and family to make ends meet.