Woman 'hounded over debt'

Mrs Cole says the items were ordered from a past address

A woman has claimed debt collectors are making her life a misery by hounding her for money she does not owe.

Miranda Cole, of Twydall in Kent, has received numerous letters from bailiffs trying to collect more than £800 for goods ordered from a catalogue.

But Mrs Cole insists she knows nothing about the mail order items and fears she is the victim of fraud.

The goods were ordered in her name last year from an address she moved out of three years ago.

'Had a good cry'

Since May this year she has been contacted by three different debt collection agencies.

Mrs Cole said she worried now that anyone coming to the door was a bailiff and dreaded the daily post delivery.

She said: "Your heart sinks and you feel sick. As soon as I see the letter marked to addressee only, I think 'oh no, not another one'.

"And then sometimes I've sat down and had a good cry."

Mrs Cole said the Citizens Advice Bureau had persuaded one of the three debt collection agencies to investigate further before going to court for an order to seize her property.

She has sent each of the agencies a copy of her tenancy agreement, which proves she has been living at her new home for three years.

Mrs Cole has been told her former address had been let out to tenants who could not now be traced.