A MALVERN pensioner has been told by the Post Office that if she wants to withdraw her £3,000 savings she must do it in cash.

Audrey Baker, 80, has been housebound for some time after a stay in hospital and during this time her weekly pension payments have mounted significantly.

Mrs Baker wanted the money to be electronically transferred to another account but was told this was impossible, as was a cheque.

The only option, she was told, was o make a daily withdrawal of £600 in cash until she had cleared the amount, or collect it as one lump sum.

As she is still unwell, walking into town every day is not possible and, as a frail pensioner, carrying any large amount of money is undesirable.

Faced with no other options, Mrs Baker employed financial adviser Jeoffrey Worth, of Financial Variations, to act on her behalf.

Mr Worth said: "I kept saying to the Post Office this is the 21st Century where everything works electronically. Can't you just send the money across or even write a cheque?"

The only way that Mrs Baker can get a cheque for the full amount is if she closes the account, but the Post Office warned these accounts are being phased out so she may not be able to reopen one.

Mrs Baker said: "It's causing me undue stress.

"It's absolutely ridiculous that they expect me to carry all that money."

Post Office spokesman Richard Hall said: "We are in no way trying to prevent Mrs Baker from accessing her benefits but the options for the Card Account are unfortunately limited to those outlined."

Mrs Baker and Mr Worth have had to make countless phone calls to try and sort the situation and have been misled on more than one occasion, for which the Post Office has apologised.