You can't have a phone because you're DEAD . . .

A pensioner from Northampton, England had her phone cut off for four weeks . . . because her supplier thought she was dead.

At first, 65-year-old Marie Day was confused when telephone provider Pipex cancelled her account without warning or explanation last month.

But her confusion soon turned to astonishment when her 37-year-old son, Gary, contacted the company on his mobile phone to find out why the line had been suddenly stopped.

Mrs Day, of Birchfield Road East, Abington, said: "They told him they had had a letter saying the account holder was deceased and they were sending a final bill.