Apology follows Torridge council tax bills blunder

An internal investigation is to be carried out after a blunder meant Torridge District Council sent out council tax bills with the wrong amounts.

The authority said the element stated to be payable to some parish councils was too high and percentage increase figures for parishes showed a larger increase than is actually the case.

The amounts differ between different parishes but in most cases it means some people have received annual bills which are £2.00 to £5.00 in total more for this year than they should be. The council said steps were being taken to re-issue the bills as soon as possible with the correct lower amounts.

Head of Paid Service Jenny Wallace said: "I will be ensuring there is a full internal investigation into how this happened but our immediate priority is to make sure the correct bills are issued."

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Council leader Barry Parsons said: "On behalf of Torridge District Council I would like to sincerely apologise for any confusion or concern that this may cause. I wish to re-assure the public that the council is acting as quickly as possible to rectify the error."

Residents can continue to make payments in the normal way if they so choose and these will be held on account. Once the new bills have been issued, any future payments will be adjusted downwards so that the correct total amount is paid over the course of the year.

Residents also have the option of stopping their payments until the new bills are issued. To do this they will need to contact the council by March 26 by calling 01237 428900 or emailing council.tax@torridge.gov.uk. The council says the total annual amount will still need to be paid by March 31st 2014 and so future payments may be higher.

Residents living in the following parishes have no need to do anything as these bills are correct: Abbots Bickington, Bradford and Cookbury, Bulkworthy, Clawton, Dowland, Hollacombe, Huish, Monkleigh, Newton St Petrock, Virginstow and Lundy.