AN IRATE pensioner has hit out at telecom giant BT after he received a quarterly bill for just 31p - almost as much as it cost him to buy first class stamp to send the firm a cheque.

AN IRATE pensioner has hit out at telecom giant BT after he received a quarterly bill for just 31p - almost as much as it cost him to buy first class stamp to send the firm a cheque.

Pip Elton, from Cockfield, near Lavenham, pays just over £22 a month for a high speed broadband connection which he uses to access the internet and to email family and friends.

The 80-year-old's contract with BT also gives him the benefit of free evening and weekend calls, using a special internet phone.

But rather than sending one bill for the quarterly subscription fee and any calls made outside the free period, BT has been sending him two separate bills.

Mr Elton said he is so frustrated with the company he has stopped using his internet phone all together, and instead uses his normal landline phone.

“It costs me the price of a stamp to send a cheque, and then there is the cost of processing the cheque, not to mention how much it costs BT to produce and send out multi-page bills for such a small amount of money,” he said.

“I read somewhere that a customer in the same situation as me had stuck coins on a piece of paper and sent that off - I think I might do that next time instead!”

BT does offer its customers the chance to register for online billing, but Mr Elton said this is not something everyone feels comfortable with.

“Not everyone wants to do away with paper bills, and I just do not see why BT insists on sending them separately,” he said.

“I have tried to make contact with BT numerous times about this matter, but I can never get to speak to anyone.

“The biggest attraction to me when I got BT Broadband Talk last July was the connection speed, and if the subscription wasn't such a good deal financially then I would cancel my contract.”

BT spokesman Jason Mann reassured any customers thinking about signing up for BT Broadband Talk could choose to have their subscription fee and phone charges on the same piece of paper, and said existing customers could access the same service by starting a new account.

“This is a very straightforward procedure and would enable people to get their charges on one bill,” he said.

He added he would make arrangements for someone to contact Mr Elton to discuss the matter.