A BETTER deal for pensioners is the promise from every politician aiming to secure your vote next Thursday.

It is a noble aim and one with which most people would agree.

But we doubt if any of the policies espoused by our political parties would have helped 80-year-old George Price.

Why? Because any policy tends to be implemented and administered by petty bureaucrats.

Mr Price’s case is a classic of its kind. The dementia sufferer recently moved into a residential care home.

His change of circumstances was not passed on to the Department of Work and Pensions and as a result Mr Price was then asked to pay back £155 in overpaid pension credit.

Is this really what we have come to as a country? Is Whitehall really reduced to sending out debt collection letters to the elderly and infirm?

Hats off to Mr Price’s carers at the Willows Care Home in Worcester for fighting his case for him. Their actions mean the Department of Work and Pensions has now written off the debt.

It just amazes us that this situation was allowed to escalate.

Whoever gains the keys to 10 Downing Street next week, we hope they make the use of common sense by civil servants a top priority.

We are sure that most of our readers will be outraged by Whitehall’s treatment of George Price.

But we wonder how many other people in his position have simply paid up out of fear and confusion?