Redundancy & Loan

Good afternoon,

I'm in the final stages of being made redundant (not voluntarily). I had a loan with the company and my employer is now looking to recoup this loan by way of a deduction from my redundancy - is this acceptable, and more importantly legal?

I don't dispute the loan but it will be hard for me to survive if my small redundancy package is reduced by this deduction. I don't have an official loan agreement, just a simple letter. The only clause referring to repayment in full is this:

QUOTE " Should you leave the employment of the company at any time then the outstanding balance at that time would need to be immediately settled."

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks
Mike