A couple were nearly faced with debt collectors after British Telecom (BT) chased them for a single penny.

A couple from Lincolnshire have been left baffled this week after being threatened with legal action over a 1p bill.
Margaret and Joseph Winyard received the stark warning from communications giant British Telecom after trying numerous times to settle the debt without success.
"BT told us we did not owe anything," Mrs Winyard said. "Then we got another bill telling us that they will disconnect all our services within 10 days and put us in touch with a debt collection agency.”
"It's just a penny. I asked if I could put it on our direct debit and they said they could not do that. It is ridiculous."
They have been receiving the seemingly pointless bills ever since they took part in a free digital TV trial with the company earlier in the year. However, despite cancelling this service due to poor reception, the bills kept on coming.
The final demand notice, which informed them that BT would be passing their details on to a debt collection agency if they didn’t settle the outstanding charge immediately, arrived on Monday. This was the final straw for the Lincolnshire residents who saw no other option than to take their story to the local paper to try and get it resolved.
Only after their saga was in print did BT take notice, withdraw their earlier admonition and apologise to the bewildered couple for the inconvenience caused.
"They were very apologetic and they are looking in to the matter and having an internal inquiry," Mrs Winyard said. "They have given me a full apology and a bouquet of flowers. It has taken the Lincolnshire Echo to do something for BT to get it sorted.”
However, while neither BT or the Winyards are really sure what the penny charge was actually for, the real, and slightly perplexing question is what exactly the bailiffs would have planned to take in order to fulfill this minuscule debt?


