A daughter has told of her anger after she was sent a £2,000 care home bill for her mother after she died.

Susan Richards, known as Sue, lived in Rainham Mark and used to run Chris’ Fish Shop in Station Road, Rainham.

The 71-year-old was diagnosed with vascular dementia four years ago.

Her son looked after her at her home, but once every six weeks she would have a week of respite care at Platters Farm Lodge, Highfield Road, Rainham.

The grandmother-of-four was due to stay in the care home for all of March, as her son was going away, but she died on March 2.

Weeks later Mrs Richards’ family received a bill for £7,000 from Medway Council for a year of care, including a £2,000 bill for the care she never had in March.

Her daughter Sara Dawes, 45, rang the council to complain.

"It feels like the council are taking advantage of people with dementia" - Sara Dawes

The mum-of-two, who lives in London, said: “They were very blasé about it.

“They said they would take the charge off but three weeks later we received a letter, addressed to mum, and the money wasn’t taken off. It’s just not good enough.”

Mrs Dawes said the letter had caused a lot of upset at a time when the family should be grieving.

Mrs Dawes also said she wanted to warn others to check their bills in case they had been overcharged.

She added: “These people are vulnerable and the bills may be dealt with by elderly relatives who wouldn’t ring up to complain.

“I feel like we were being taken advantage of.

"It feels like the council are taking advantage of people with dementia.”

A Medway Council spokesman said: “We have spoken to the family to offer our sincere apologies, and we are very sorry for any distress this may have caused.

“The invoice was incorrectly issued due to an administrative error.

“We corrected the invoice immediately after the family contacted us, but unfortunately the invoice had already been processed.

“The family will be sent confirmation of the correction.”