WEST Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) is struggling to cope with a backlog of housing benefit claims caused by the Coalition Government's welfare reforms. The administrative headache came to light after a Whitecrook man contacted the Post to tell us he was being threatened with eviction.

Ian Barr has been living happily at his Clydebank Housing Association (CHA) property since 1999, but he was contemplating the genuine prospect of being made homeless.

The 50-year-old is currently unemployed after having recently completed an HND in media and communications at Clydebank College. He is looking for work and has applied to start university in September.

In the meantime he had submitted an application for housing benefit to the local authority but was told he may have to wait months to have his claim processed due to a mountain of applications.

The knock-on effect meant his landlord hit Ian with a notice of proceedings to recover his Whitecrook Street flat because of rent arrears totalling �335.69.

We contacted the council on Wednesday, July 31, to raise Ian's concerns. The council confirmed its finance section was currently ploughing through "a backlog of claims created by the higher volume of work linked to the welfare reforms".

And then just two days later, on Friday, August 2, Ian received a letter from his landlord telling him his claim had been granted and the eviction process was cancelled.

Ian was obviously delighted with the news but also surprised that he had apparently been allowed to jump the queue simply because he took his case to the press.

He said: "Thanks to the Clydebank Post my situation has now been resolved but I just wonder how many other folk out there are still facing the prospect of eviction. It was made clear to me that I would have to wait in line and the council couldn't put a timescale on when my application would be processed. But then in less than 24 hours everything has been sorted out." Ian's relief was in stark contrast to his feelings when he opened a letter from Catherine Banks, a housing officer at CHA, notifying Ian that the first stage of an eviction process was under way.

Dated July 25, it read: "We intend to serve a Notice of Proceedings on you in relation to rent arrears. This notice is the first stage in any future action we may take in relation to recovering the debt and your home.

"I have spoken to West Dunbartonshire Council who confirm that they have received a Housing Benefit application from the Job Centre in your name on June 24, 2013.

"However, as they are unable to confirm whether or not you will be entitled to housing benefit, we must take the action outlined in this letter." That letter was then followed by a legal document notifying Ian of the housing association's intention to begin the repossession process. But after the Post got involved the wheels were set in motion and a council spokeswoman confirmed the axe had been lifted.

She said: "We have deployed additional resources and are working to clear the backlog as quickly as possible. The council has contacted Mr Barr and his landlord, to confirm his claim has been processed and apologise for any inconvenience this delay has caused."