New research reveals that families in the county, struggling to cope with a bereavement, are being sent an incredible 23,796 pieces of junk mail every week addressed to dead relatives.

In total more than 1.2 million letters drop through Lancashire letterboxes annually addressed to people who have died – enough to fill 61 dustbins.

Relatives of those who have been had to deal with the issue, said companies should be better trained.

In January last year a grandmother from Preston received a bill from British Gas – telling her she was dead. The letter from the energy giant went on to say: "Further bills will be directed to the executor in accordance with your instruction."

Pensioner Frances Tootell, of Gill House Avenue, got the letter just before Christmas. It informed her it would be the final bill.

Mrs Tootell told the Lancashire Evening Post: "It's like getting your own obituary. I made a joke of it, checked my pulse and thought, 'Well I'm not dead', but it was a shock."

Meanwhile, a Preston pensioner received a letter telling him he had won the lottery – nearly six years after he died.

Joan Daisley, 67, of Fir Trees Avenue, Grange, Preston, spoke of her shock at receiving the letter last August addressed to her late husband John, claiming he had won the Spanish lottery and asking for bank details.

The survey was conducted by the Deceased Preference Service. Their spokesman Karen Webster said: "Not only can mail of this kind serve as a very painful reminder of the loss experienced by the families that are left behind, but it can also lead to untold horrors if that person's identity goes on to be stolen.

"Companies need to realise just how insensitive they are being, but also become more responsible in light of the growing trend for ID fraud."

For the family of Preston woman Rachel Clear, losing her at the age of 31 after a long battle with cancer was devastating enough.

But days later they faced further heartache when electricity giant Powergen sent Miss Clear a letter – even though they knew she had died.
Rachel died at St Catherine's Hospice, six months after she was diagnosed with myoxid liposarcoma, a form of spinal cancer.

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