Peter Stringfellow tries to return winter fuel allowance

Peter Stringfellow has written to the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith asking him to halt his "totally unnecessary" pensioner's winter fuel allowance.

The nightclub owner said he was somewhat embarrassed to receive the handouts, and has vowed to donate his backlog of payments to Help for Heroes if the matter is not resolved within a month.

In the correspondence, he wrote: "The point of this letter is to ask you if I can return the money you have given me during the past 10 years. It is my opinion that giving people of my standing this generous payment is totally unnecessary."

Speaking from his home in Majorca, he added: "When they send you notification that they will be sending you the money, they should give you an option to say you don't want it. It is a very small thing to do."