A DISABLED pensioner who got into financial difficulties after her husband died is in danger of losing her home over a debt to a Bournemouth care agency.

Until his death five years ago, Gilbert Marler was a full-time carer to his wife Dawn, who uses a wheelchair. After being widowed, Mrs Marler struggled to cope on her own and ended up owing £70,000 to various creditors, including £11,596 to Nu Staff, which had provided her with professional carers.

Mrs Marler, 72, whose house in Ensbury Park, Bournemouth, has been in her family for more than 60 years, consolidated her debts through a company in northern England, and has been paying them off at the rate of £125 a month.

She says Nu Staff was the only one of nine creditors to refuse instalments, turning down her offer of £100 a month on top of her other commitments.

Now the agency has obtained a court order to force the sale of the house if the debt, plus interest, is not paid in full by January.

Open University graduate Mrs Marler, who was disabled by polio in the 1950s and suffers from diabetes, is now pinning her hopes of being able to release some equity.

"It's been a nightmare. If I had been paying monthly all this time, I wouldn't have had so much to pay back now," she said. "I could be out on the streets. My doctor has said that if I do move from here, it could kill me."

A statement from solicitor Druitts, on behalf of Nu Staff managing director Linda Still, said: "Our client is an elderly lady, herself in poor health, immobile, disabled and reliant upon a wheelchair and the care of staff.

"The debt owed by Mrs Marler has been outstanding for some two-and-a-half years. The offer made by Mrs Marler to pay the outstanding debt was rejected by Mrs Still as it would have taken over 12 years to clear, the reality of which is that our client may never see the debt paid in full due to her age and ill health. Moreover the court also found that such proposals were unacceptable."

The statement added that Mrs Marler was likely to be rehoused by the local authority because of her age and disabilities.