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North-east council apologises for ‘death letter’

Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council

Aberdeen City Council bosses have apologised after sending a woman a letter telling her she was dead.

The local authority wrote to the executor of “the late Adeline Buchanan” – when the 58-year-old was very much alive.

The letter delivered to her council house asked if someone had been appointed to handle her estate.

Mrs Buchanan said that it was “devastating” to read she had died.

She said: “When I opened it I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was just a really horrible thing to open. I felt sick to my stomach.”

Mrs Buchanan, who suffers from anxiety, said the letter just added to her health woes.

She said: “I have taken panic attacks for the last 17 years and have had heart problems. This has done nothing to help.

“I feel really horrible and it makes me feel squeamish just thinking about it. I’m appalled and disgusted at the council for doing something like this.”

After reading the letter, she called her daughter Sarah Rutherford in tears.

The 33-year-old said: “She phoned me in a state of shock and was crying down the phone – I wondered what had happened.

“It’s shocking that the council would do this, I have never heard of anything like this in my life.”

She added: “I called the council and asked where they got their information from.

“They shouldn’t be able to do something like this.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “The letter was issued due to human error.

“We have apologised to the lady concerned.”