Intervention by the Liverpool Echo’s editorial team has prevented a disabled man being forced to pay a credit card bill of more than £4,000.

It was only when ECHO Action stepped in that the debt collection firm realised its mistake and said "sorry".

The paper reported how Ann Hughes was hounded by debt collectors who said her son Aidan, (35), who suffers cerebral palsy and can not speak or write, spent £4,425 on a Barclaycard.

She feared her son's identity had been stolen, as her own investigations proved that the date of birth used to obtain the credit card was not her son's.

ECHO Action raised the issue with Barclaycard the company launched an investigation straight away - and within the hour issued an apology to the family.

Mrs Hughes told the Echo: "Each letter brought more and more worry. For someone like me it was very intimidating."