THE roof has fallen in on the world of a Kidderminster pensioner who is having to pay back £24,000 on an original loan of £20,000 to buy his council house.

Wyre Forest MP David Lock has taken up the case of 77-year-old Ronald Robinson and has issued a warning to others thinking of taking out low-start mortgages.

Mr Robinson claimed he did not know what he was letting himself in for when he took out a low-start mortgage from National Home Loans (NHL) six years ago.

Although he paid less in the early years, he said it had not been explained to him that the reduced payments resulted in a shortfall in the mortgage, which was later added to the original lump sum.

So his debt was increasing rather than decreasing. On top of that, NHL's interest rate of 11.84 per cent left Mr Robinson - who bought the Clent Avenue, Birchen Coppice house he has lived in for 50 years from the council - trying to top up his payments every month to prevent further arrears.

The company maintained the mortgage was "properly executed" and saw "no grounds" for reducing the balance on Mr Robinson's account.

Mr Robinson, who shares the house with his wife Patricia, 75, said: "At no point was I told about the reduced interest being added later. This has caused a lot of stress for my family," added the former boilerman with Brintons and Greatwych.

Mr Lock said: "This is a very unfortunate case. Mr Robinson was not made fully aware of the nature of the mortgage and consequently finds himself and his family facing a substantial debt."

He warned: "I would urge everyone looking at mortgages to be particularly cautious about the terms of low-start mortgages, particularly if the company involved charges a higher-than-average rate of interest," he said.

"I shall be helping Mr Robinson as much as I can in order to try and right this wrong."

In correspondence to Mr Lock about Mr Robinson's case, Soli-hull-based NHL's executive director for operations, Neale Burgess, said: "I remain of the opinion that this mortgage was properly executed from the lender's viewpoint.

"Consequently, I see no grounds for reducing the balance outstanding on this account."