Pensioner, 89, with £1.67 in bank left with 'eggs on toast for Christmas'

An 89-year-old woman was close to “having eggs on toast for Christmas” after being left with just £1.67 in her bank account.

The pensioner's plight was revealed by a plumber who visited her home in Blackburn to carry out a free emergency repair on her leaking tap.

James Anderson, who runs community interest company Depher, said the woman cried on his shoulder for 40 minutes after he saw her fridge was nearly empty.

Anderson said the pensioner was going to have eggs on toast for her Christmas dinner until his organisation stepped in.

Read more: Grandma, 63, defends charging family for Christmas dinner: 'I'm not Scrooge'

Anderson wrote on social media: "An 89-year-old lady with only £1.67 in the bank until mid-January. Three presents from friends, a few cards.

“She is having eggs on toast for her Christmas dinner.”

In an update, he revealed he had bought enough food at Asda to last the woman 60 days and bought her a proper Christmas dinner and added she could expect a lot of Christmas gifts.

Depher's ongoing GoFundMe page has raised more than £60,000 since it was launched, with actor Hugh Grant donating an extra £50,000.

The company is based primarily in Burnley and has been helping those living in poverty for the past five years.

It is known for fitting and maintaining boilers for those who can't afford it and ordering food from supermarkets for those struggling.

Read more: The UK's economic crisis explained in seven charts

Earlier this year, Anderson said: "We knew the cost of living increase would become a problem over the covid period when people were being furloughed and had little money.

"Then when we came out of the pandemic, it was clear that we weren't going back to normal like the government had said we would.

“We saw a huge drop in support in the wider area and decided to put a plan of action in place just in case we were needed to support single parent families and children, not just the vulnerable and the elderly.

"We already do a lot with providing struggling families with food shopping vouchers and subsidising their energy bills and fixing their boilers.”