North Northamptonshire Council sorry for double council tax blunder

A council has apologised for collecting council tax two days early in the same week another mistake saw it issue 800 incorrect summonses.

North Northamptonshire Council admitted the collection error might cause residents "financial difficulty".

It came after what it said was an "completely unrelated" mistake saw 800 incorrect council tax summonses issued.

Council leader Jason Smithers said it was "very unfortunate" the errors happened in the same week.

The Conservative-run unitary authority was only formed earlier this year following the collapse of Northamptonshire County Council due to financial failings.

Council tax direct debits for residents in the Wellingborough area were collected two business days earlier than scheduled.

Instead of being collected on 1 November as planned, the money will be taken on Thursday.

The authority said it was unable to recall the request, but added a further payment will not be taken on 1 November.

It said anyone "who may be suffering from financial difficulties as a result of this early payment or has been charged by their bank as a result" should contact them via an online form.

The news comes after the council apologised for a separate error on Monday which saw about 800 summonses being issued incorrectly for non-payment of council tax.

The summonses were issued in the Corby area and the council said it is working to identify anyone affected.

It said anyone who has paid their council tax bill to date was "advised to disregard the summons".

Mr Smithers said: "We cannot apologise enough for this payment being taken early and any distress which may have been caused."

He said the council would help residents impacted financially "to ensure no one is left out of pocket".

Mr Smithers called the summonses issue "very disappointing," adding: "I am deeply sorry for any distress it may have caused."

In both instances, the council said it will be carrying out reviews into what went wrong.

Mr Smithers added: "It is very unfortunate there have been two errors regarding council tax collection in the same week but they are completely unrelated."

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