On Friday, Comic Relief asked for five pounds to save a life in Africa.

On March 2, Sandwell Homes’ Tipton neighbourhood office asked for £17.95 to collect some household items from my neighbour. On Comic Relief day they were still sitting there.

My neighbour is a lovely lady, quiet but friendly and belonging to the old school of good neighbours. She did not want a fuss, but the items were an eyesore and had been attracting unwanted and intrusive attention from passers by. Unfortunately, the neighbourhood office had lost the paperwork and despite having the receipt presented to them on three subsequent occasions, blaming someone else was the best they could do.

So I contacted Sandwell Homes’ head office on her behalf to see if we could revive some interest in this unsatisfactory situation.

Close to tears, my neighbour then had to retell the story another twice before finally receiving a call to say the items would be collected the following Wednesday, but if the details were correct, then the neighbourhood office had undercharged and an additional fee would need to be paid.

The lady was most insistent that even if the mistake could be attributed to the neighbourhood office, the collection, as it stood, would not be honoured and also confirmed that any item out for collection but not on the list would not be taken.

Just as we were talking about this latest insult to injury the postman arrived, delivering a copy of the Sandwell Herald at the same time. Inside this edition there is feature showing a beaming Brian Oakley, Sandwell Homes’ chief executive. He is presumably beaming because the Audit Commission had been fooled into awarding Sandwell Homes a three-star rating, but the only three-star rating on offer here is for incompetence and apathy.

The burning question is, has the incompetence and apathy set in since the announcement of the closure of the neighbourhood office or has the decision been made to close it because of its failings?

Either way, it is staggering to discover that it is cheaper, easier and quicker to save a life in Africa than to arrange a special collection in Sandwell. Even more annoying is the fact that, given our extortionate level of council tax, we should have to pay an additional collection charge at all.

A comical performance fully deserving of a Red Face Day.

Steve Wilkinson, Robert Road, Tipton.