MAY I bring to the attention of the people of Bolton the way the local council has deprived ex-employees of equal pay compensation rightly due to them.

My wife worked for 23 years as a dinner lady, and retired in April, 2006.

In November, it was published in The Bolton News that the council had been underpaying its part-time employees for many years, and was paying compensation to rectify this. This was the first time we had heard about it.

My wife applied for this compensation, only to be informed that the deadline for claims had passed, and it was too late to apply.

How was my wife supposed to know she had to claim when no one informed her of the September 6 deadline?

It is not all about money, it is the principle that ex-employees are of no value to the authority, and can be deprived of their rights.

Mr WN Southern, Seymour Grove, Farnworth