Pensioner Earl Barrey thought he was keeping things simple by moving next door when he was forced to leave his flat.

So he was stunned when he received a letter from the council telling him his benefits were being cut off because he had moved out of the area.

In fact he had moved about 5ft.

The 83-year-old had to move out of his flat in a block of sheltered housing in Gordon Road, Brighton, where he had lived for ten years, because it was being sold.

He thought he was minimising any possible confusion by simply moving one door away but the blunder by Brighton and Hove City Council meant his housing and council tax benefits were stopped.

The mix-up occurred despite Mr Barrey writing to every council department he dealt with.

He said: "I can't understand what the hell has gone wrong. I thought it would all be plain sailing.

"I've had two letters from the benefits office saying I'm no longer eligible for council tax benefit or a rent allowance.

"By law, I'm entitled to these benefits but their excuse is that I've moved out of the area. But I've only moved one door away.

"I wrote to the council to say I was moving. I know they were aware of it because I got letters from most departments at my new address."

Mr Barrey, a retired photographer, said he could see the funny side but was worried how it would affect someone more frail.

He said: "I can deal with it. I don't worry about a thing. But I do care about what would happen if someone very old or weak got letters like this.

"It could finish them off. I was also annoyed as one department had clearly not read my letter properly, as they wrote back to the old address.

"What was the point in informing the council if they did not even bother to read the letter?"

A council spokeswoman said: "When a member of the council tax department talked to the benefits department he simply said Mr Barrey had moved, not that he had moved next door.

"So the benefits office sent out their standard letter to Mr Barrey for people who move.

"It was an administrative error. It will be sorted out straight away and the council is very sorry for the mix-up."