Faceless bureaucracy at Ealing Council has condemned a young couple from Hanwell to a wait of more than a year for their housing benefit claim to be processed.

Sebastian Orfeo, 28, an aspiring jazz musician and his girlfriend Paolo Farina, 26, both Italian, applied to Ealing Council to have their payment levels reassessed in March last year, after a lodger moved out of their two-bedroom flat in Hanwell.

And because the procedure was taking so long, the couple could not afford their rent and Mr Orfeo had to increase the hours of his part-time job at a bookmaker in Finsbury Park.

This, in turn changed the couple's financial standing, and the assessment was started again.

Now, 13 months on, Ealing Council is still requesting documentation from the couple to complete the claim.

'I have sent them my payslips three times,' said Mr Orfeo, 'and now they want a letter from my college, for the third time, to say I'm a full time student. This is ridiculous.'

The couple are now receiving some money, but get cheques for different amounts each month.

'I'm not arguing about the amount,' he said. 'But I need to know where I stand, and how much I will be getting.'

To make matters worse, the couple lost an extra £600 when an unscrupulous landlord ran off with their deposit for a flat in Shepherd's Bush, which was smaller and cheaper than their Hanwell home.

'I ran up debts of £2,000 last year, and still have to pay off about £600,' said Mr Orfeo.

A spokesman from Ealing Council said: 'We will be putting a dedicated officer onto this, and we hope to resolve the query within a week.

'The council handles 50,000 claims a year, only 2,000 of which are as complicated as this.'