A GRIEVING husband feels “let down by the system” after a series of errors left him with a funeral bill he is unable to pay.

Colin Bowden applied for funeral funding through a Job Centre after his wife Marilyn died in Chesham in November.

He applied on December 16 and was told he would get a response within 12 weeks – but heard nothing back until April 6.

Correspondence about the application was sent to the wrong number house in The Gowers, Amersham, where Mr Bowden has now moved to.

This week Mr Bowden was sent a letter stating “further action to recover full payment” of the £2,401 he owes for the funeral costs is now being considered.

But Mr Bowden, who says he 'only just has enough money to get by' from his job as a window cleaner, believes he should have had more help.

He said: “They are putting pressure on me and asking me for money I haven't got.

“I feel let down by the system. I just can't believe they can turn down people who've got no money and can't pay for the funeral.

“I feel the system is totally wrong. I thought they were supposed to help people.”

To support his application, Mr Bowden had to send in his wife's birth, marriage and death certificates – which have still not been returned to him six months on.

Mr and Mrs Bowden moved to a property in Brockhurst Road, Chesham, last year from Hayes following a council house exchange.

A few months later, on November 7, 53-year-old Mrs Bowden committed suicide. Her inquest heard she had been suffering from depression “for some considerable time”.

Mr Bowden said she had been unhappy ever since the couple had moved to Chesham: “She was born and bred in Hayes and didn't want to go over here.”

Mrs Bowden's death came hours after she had been arrested by police. A recent investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission cleared the officers involved of any wrongdoing – a decision backed by Mr Bowden.

Paying tribute to his wife, Mr Bowden said: “She would get on with anybody. She got on with all the staff at the police station.

“I miss her. I saw her every day but I miss her as someone to talk to. I wish she was still here and never died. She was always there to talk to.”

He added he wanted to say 'thank you' to people who had left flowers outside the Mead Business Park in Berkhampstead Road, where his wife died.

Nobody from Job Centre was available for comment as we went to press.