A couple claim they will be forced to sell their house because they owe the Child Support Agency thousands of pounds.

Keith and Anita Blake, of Sheldon Way, Littlemore, Oxford, were landed with a bill for £2,500 when Mr Blake's ex-wife contacted the CSA this year to claim maintenance.

But the Blakes said they have been paying maintenance on an informal basis since the couple split in 1990, and should not have to pay the extra cash.

Mrs Blake, 40, said: "We simply can't afford to pay this money. Where am I going to get £2,500 from? If we have to pay these arrears then we won't be able to afford our mortgage and will have to sell our house."

Mrs Blake said when her husband and his ex-wife separated they were told there was nothing to pay. However, the couple agreed to pay £40 a month in cash.

This continued until this year when the Blakes claim that Keith's ex-wife began to demand extra money and wrote to the CSA claiming maintenance. But now they say they have been landed with a bill, back-dated from April 1997.

Mrs Blake said: "I can't understand why they have back-dated this bill when Keith's ex-wife did not contact them until this year.

"We should have received reassessment forms every two years, but when I spoke to the CSA they said we had been overlooked - but that's not our fault and now we have been hit with this huge bill."

A spokesman for the CSA said: "These type of letters may come as a surprise but that's because the CSA is clearing its backlog of work. If they have been making maintenance payments in the meantime, this can be taken off the bill.

Story date: Saturday 06 February

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