Pensioners in south London were told they would have to make a 10 mile trip to cash their winter fuel allowance.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sent out giro cheques for £200 and £300 to pensioners in Old Coulsdon that could only be cashed at the Lacey Green sub-post office which closed last month.

Sheila Wood, of Old Coulsdon, tried to cash her cheque at the Lacey Green sub-post office only to be told by the shopkeeper it was no longer open.

Another nearby post office told her she could not transfer her cheque and after calling the Pension Service, part of the DWP, was advised to go to Morden to cash the cheque. She was finally able to cash her allowance at her bank.

The Post Office Ltd said it was down to the DWP to clear up the confusion as the cheques were distributed a month after the closure of the Lacey Green branch.

Mrs Wood said: "When I found out about this I was shocked, I couldn't believe that some pensioners may need to travel all the way to Morden to cash their cheques.

"It's not fair that pensioners who don't have bank accounts should have to make a 10-mile trip to cash the cheques."

She added: "It just seems to me that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing."

Croydon South MP Richard Ottaway, who opposed the recent closure of 14 post offices in the borough, called for an urgent solution to the problem.

He said: "This was exactly what those of us who opposed post office closures said would happen.

"It is totally unacceptable for the many pensioners without bank accounts in Old Coulsdon to be expected to make this sort of journey."

A spokesman for the DWP said it was doing all it could to ensure people received their allowances as soon as possible.