A man who received a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions ordering him to pay back 2p has slammed them as "ridiculous".
Security guard Damien Dove, from Sunderland, received the letter on Tuesday which told him there was an overpayment more than three years ago while he was on housing benefit and he was claiming part rent.
Mr Dove said it was the only time he has ever claimed benefits and the DWP told him they would "consider further action" if it wasn't paid.
He was given until August 29 to get in touch with them regarding the payment.
Despite initially thinking it may have been a prank he rang the authority and was shocked to find out they were serious.
The 53-year-old said: "I thought it was a joke until I contacted them. It would have cost them more to send me out the letter.
"They were quite serious about it over the phone and it says in the letter that further action will now be taken if I don't pay."
Mr Dove said he'll pay the two pence by cheque next time he goes to the bank and suggested that the money he owes was taken out of his tax, but claims that the response from the call centre was that he "owed a bill so had to pay it."
He added: "It just surprised me when I opened the letter and I was asking, are these people having a laugh?! I have never known anyone get a letter demanding 2p, it's just ridiculous.
"I think it's pathetic. I haven't collected social security for at least ten years, I've worked all my life near enough apart from a few months and basically I'm getting penalised doing this for collecting a benefit for one week."
A spokesperson from the Department of Work and Pensions responded to the Chronicle's questions, saying: "This was a debt owing to Mr Dove's local authority; regulations require us to recover such debts when requested to do so and the automated nature of our systems the notification was generated without agent input.
"We supported Mr Dove, whose chosen payment method would’ve incurred a charge, by suggesting a free alternative."
