A CARER is calling on Darlington Borough Council to pay her for months of work devoted to the care of a vulnerable man.

Last November, Jayne Lindsay was asked by the Creative Support company to help elderly and vulnerable George McGow with his every day needs.

Formerly homeless, Mr McGow was living alone with no family, few possessions and needing daily support.

After refusing to engage with several carers, he quickly took to Ms Lindsay who became his primary carer until he died last month.

Despite devoting at least 19 hours a week to his care since November, Ms Lindsay has now been told she is only eligible for wages from March 7, 2016.

The situation apparently arose due to significant delays in arranging the social services assessment necessary to determine Mr McGow’s needs and secure the benefits to fund his care.

When he died in March, Ms Lindsay had worked unpaid for around five months and is now fighting for back payments, saying the authorities were aware of her work.

Ms Lindsay did not claim benefits during the unpaid period as she feared she would be committing benefit fraud.

She applied for Attendance Allowance in February but was told she was ineligible for payments until May, after a six-month period of care.

The resulting lack of income left her unable to afford rent, bills and a wedding dress for upcoming nuptials.

The 49-year-old has complained to the Local Government Ombudsman and said: “When I met George, he had nothing and nobody – I felt so sorry for him.

“I did his cleaning, cooked him meals, washed and changed him every day and I couldn’t abandon him.

“I’d seen such a dramatic change and it would have been like walking out on my grandad.

“I kept doing it for nothing because he needed me and I was expecting to be paid by social services.

“If this is what comes from trying to help an old man who’d lived on the streets, I’ll never do it again.”

Creative Support are backing Ms Lindsay in her complaint, claiming she transformed and markedly improved Mr McGow’s life.

A letter from the company seen by The Northern Echo said without her, he would have lived in a nursing home at “huge financial cost to Darlington Borough Council”.

A spokeswoman for the council confirmed they were aware of the situation and were working with Ms Lindsay to reach a solution but said they could not comment on individual situations.