Pension row Navy hero booted out of his house
DWP ordered locks changed while Gordon was out
A PENSIONER was forced to sleep in his car because the Department for Work and Pensions wrongly thought he was living with a girlfriend.
Gordon Forsyth, 74, had lived in his home in Elderslie, near Paisley, for 30 years but returned from visiting his daughter to find the locks on his two-bedroom house had been changed.
Renfrewshire Council believed Gordon, who served in the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, had stopped living in the property and issued a notice of abandonment in July despite him repeatedly telling them he still lived there.
They changed the locks on August 19 when he was out.
Gordon is fighting an ongoing battle with the DWP over issues with his pension credit and believes they told Renfrewshire Council he was living with a girlfirend, which Gordon denies.
He said: “She lives over 100 miles away in Stranraer. I’ve been keeping bus tickets and library tickets to prove I still live in my house and I’ve got food in my fridge.”
The former surgical chiropodist, who has had knee surgery, spent three nights in a homeless unit, then slept in his car until he could go back to his daughter’s home. He said: “I’m at my wits’ end. I feel as though the world’s against me.”
Hours after being contacted by our sister paper the Paisley Daily Express, Renfrewshire Council confirmed they would be reinstating Gordon’s tenancy.
A spokesman said: “Housing officers have provided the individual with his keys and we would like to apologise for any distress this situation has caused.”