A TRIP out for a bite to eat ended in a cash windfall for two pensioners.

Aaron Newman, 77, and wife Lily, 68, of Esh Winning, near Durham, ended up more than £3,000 better off after visiting the village lunch club.

Staff from Derwentside District Council and Durham County Council had attended the club to help pensioners claim benefits to which they were entitled.

Mr and Mrs Newman told the officials they believed they were receiving all the help they could get.

But a week later, they received a phone call from Consett Civic Centre, telling them they should be receiving more than £44 extra a week in housing and council tax benefits, saving them more than £2,000 a year.

The payments were backdated to October last year and the couple received a cheque for just over £1,200.

Mr Newman said: "This was a nice surprise. We didn't expect to get anything at all."

To help reach pensioners in rural areas such as Esh Winning, the council is using the Multi-Agency Resource Centre vehicle.

Staff are also attending organised events for the over-60s, such as tea dances, coffee mornings and lunch clubs.