THE family of a man who drowned on holiday accused a mobile company of “stealing from their dead dad” in a long-running battle to cancel a contract.

Stewart Thomson, 71, of Newton Aycliffe, drowned while swimming in a lake on holiday in France with his wife and friends this summer.

Days after his death his son Paul Thomson contacted Talkmobile and sent a certificate as proof but the company continued to bill the account for the next three months - and at one point even called Mr Thomson’s widow, Lynn, and asked to speak to her husband.

Last night the company apologised for the "error" and promised to refund the charges.

Paul, of Newton Aycliffe, said: “It was just another hassle my mum still had to deal with three months after my father’s death.

"At the time she wasn’t in the best place to deal with it so I did. But to ring her up and ask to speak to him is ridiculous.

“It’s not a huge amount of money but it’s the principle. It’s stealing from my dead dad.”

Mr Thomson died in Apremont, in the Pays de la Loire region of western France, on June 25 when he swam across a lake to inflatables and did not make it back.

His death certificate was first sent to Talkmobile following a phone conversation between Paul and the provider on June 29.

However, Mrs Thomson later realised payments had been taken in July and August from what had been a joint account with her husband.

She called the company and was told to send the certificate again, which she did.

On August 27 her son Paul called up and the handler claimed neither certificates had been received so he sent it again.

The company then sent Paul a series of text messages asking him to rate the service - which he did by answering with zero to each question.

Two days later the company called to address the poor service. He explained the ongoing matter but she confirmed the company had not received the certificates.

Paul said he was told to send it again and was informed a member of the bereavement team would make contact, which they did not.

During the period of communication Paul said he attempted to pursue a complaint over the “unacceptable service” but was told the procedure could only be started by the contract-holder.

Paul also took to Facebook to raise his concerns but did not receive a response until contacting the company on the platform a second time four days later in August.

This month the third payment of £8.50 was taken.

A Talkmobile spokesperson said: "We’re very sorry Mr Thomson’s family had this experience at such a difficult time.

"When a customer dies, we close the account and remove any outstanding charges.

"Something went wrong on this occasion and unfortunately we have no record of receiving death certificate.

"The account has been closed and we will refund the three months' line rental we charged plus a goodwill payment by way of apology for the problems the family have faced."