Fees owed to a care home by a Bognor man who died to be recovered by council

Charles Michael Thompson spent three years at Homebeech in Stocker Road.

When he died on February 6, last year, his bills were unpaid and he had no relatives to take charge of his affairs.

Mr Thompson had been declared mentally unfit to administer his own affairs so the council stepped in as his only creditor and must now recover the charges from his estate.

Kim Adsett of West Sussex County Council said: "The gentleman's estate is likely to comprise money held in bank and other accounts. This will include some savings and accrued pension.

"As he has no known relatives there is no-one to access those accounts.

"We are entitled to ask the court to permit us to manage the accounts, and if there is more than we need then the excess is passed to the Treasury."

Situations like these are relatively rare '“ the council has dealt with only one similar case in the past year.

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