North Herts District Council (NHDC) has apologised to over 700 pensioners for an error on many council tax bills it sent out to them last week. NHDC said in a statement today: We can confirm that unfortunately when council tax bills were issued on March

North Herts District Council (NHDC) has apologised to over 700 pensioners for an error on many council tax bills it sent out to them last week.

NHDC said in a statement today: "We can confirm that unfortunately when council tax bills were issued on March 15, a processing error meant that a number of bills did not show residents' entitlement to council tax benefit for the financial year 2010/11.

"This error was caused by the omission of a process during the production of the council tax bills, which affected those customers in receipt of a specific element of Pension Credit.

"We have now written to all customers involved to apologise and to re-assure them that they will receive a revised bill in early April, showing the amount of Council Tax benefit they are entitled to, and to confirm that their instalments for the New Year will now run from May to February.

"We have also confirmed that those customers that pay by direct debit will not have any money claimed from their bank accounts in April and therefore should not cancel their Direct Debit Instructions.

"If affected residents would like to speak to the Council about this matter or obtain confirmation of the amount to be paid prior to receiving their revised bill they can call 01462 474597."

Cllr Terry Hone, NHDC portfolio holder for finance said: "We sincerely apologise for any distress this error may have caused residents and we will make every effort to ensure this does not happen again.

"Those affected by this mistake do not need to re-apply for council tax benefit and your current entitlement to council tax benefit has not been affected by this problem.