Somerset Council payment systems are out of action

The council said the new system will mean residents can pay at any time and will no longer wait on the phone in a queue

No online and phone payments can be made to Somerset Council for nine days while it switches to a new 24 hour payment system.

The current system will be turned off on Tuesday 26 November and the new service will go live on Thursday 5 December.

People who need to pay for services like council tax, housing rent or parking fines are being advised to use alternative methods.

The council's lead member for communities, councillor Federica Smith-Roberts, said: "Moving to one modern payment system means that customers can pay at a time convenient to them."

"Our customer service team take more than 30,000 payments a year, and it's important that we have a service that meets the needs of residents and the council," said Ms Smith Roberts.

She added that the new system will mean that some of the "most important and frequent payments" can be made at any time and without having to wait on the phone for a member of staff.

Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts said customers will be moved to the new service when they call the phone payment number after 5 December

When the current phone and online payment service is turned off on 26 November people will have to pay in other ways.

Invoices and bus gate or parking penalties can be paid by bank transfer but customers will need a valid reference number.

Payments for council tax, housing rents and business rates can be made at a Post Office or a Pay Point.

Once the new system is working, people calling to pay will no longer need to wait in a queue and will use their phone keypad to enter their payment details.