A PENSIONER was pleased to receive her new free bus pass until she realised the photograph on the card was not of herself.

Rita White, of Steyning Avenue, Southend, opened the envelope from Southend Council to find the name on her pass was right, but the picture was of someone else.

She said: "The picture does not even look like me. The only thing is the person does wear glasses, but different glasses.

"When I rang the Civic Centre, I was told it would be at least a fortnight before I could even hope to get a replacement. What am I expected to do until then?"

Mrs White said the mistake was ironic because late last year, the council had rejected a bus pass application from her, saying the photograph she had provided was not good enough.

She said she also felt the process was too complicated and open to error.

Mrs White said: "We are lucky enough sometimes to go to Florida and we have bus passes there. My husband and I were both photographed with a camera that does it immediately and the bus passes were handed over in less than five minutes."

Nick Corrigan, Southend Council's head of customer services, said: "We have been in correspondence with the resident and a new bus pass has been created for her with the correct photo on it, which will be with her soon."