Pensioner freed after 'Mr Brown' clears debt

The 73-year-old was released from jail last night after serving one day behind bars for failing to pay £53.71 of last year's tax. She returned to her home in Exeter, Devon late last night after a man calling himself Mr Brown paid her outstanding bill.

The pensioner said today: "I am disappointed because I had made up my mind I was going to go the whole hog."

And she added: "I am not paying my full tax this year either. I have had my final demand. No doubt I will be getting a letter telling me I have got to go to court again. I will go to prison again if necessary."

She said of her time in Eastwood Park Prison, Gloucestershire: "The prison officers were very kind and looked after me very well.

"I was accepted by the inmates because they knew what I was in for."

Ms Hardy said she found the physical aspect of prison hard to cope with because the food was "appalling" and added: "The bed was hard and the pillow was like a rock."

She said she was in a lot of pain from her back during the time she was in prison.