Cornwall Housing have apologised if people took a Christmas reminder for tennants to pay their rent as "patronising".

This refers to a recent Cornwall Housing tenant newsletter called ‘Pay your rent, before it’s spent!’ A spokesman said: "The article was intended to remind tenants of the importance of keeping on top of their rent payments over the festive period.

"We know this can be a very expensive time for people and the article offered advice to anyone who was experiencing financial difficulties and contained important messages such as a reminder to tenants in east Cornwall that we no longer give two rent free weeks at Christmas.

"As well as managing the Council’s rental properties, Cornwall Housing has responsibility for tackling homelessness – we have seen first hand the consequences of people not budgeting correctly and prioritising their debts.

"It was certainly not our intention to patronise our tenants in any way and we are sorry if some people have interpreted the article in this way."