COUNCIL bosses yesterday apologised for sending a court summons to a 92-year-old woman who died last year.

In a letter to Mary Hill, they said she was being summoned to York Magistrates' Court for failing to pay £24.94 council tax for the period up to August 4, 2002.

Her son, Roger, pointed out that his mother had died on July 18, and had not lived in her sheltered accommodation at Glen Lodge, Sixth Avenue, Heworth, since June 1.

She had not been liable for council tax anyway, because she was on full benefits, including a council tax rebate.

Mr Hill said the summons was issued after he had received a demand for the money and then written to the council to inform it of her departure from Glen Lodge and subsequent death.

"I'm hopping mad. It caused me a lot of distress. Somebody's backside needs kicking into next week," he said from his home in Howden.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said yesterday: "We would like to apologise to Mrs Hill's family for any distress this incident may have caused. We will be looking into exactly what went wrong."