Leeds City Council: Error causes £3.75m in tax rebates

The £150 rebate, announced in February, applies to homes in council tax bands A to D

An error caused Leeds City Council to pay 25,000 council tax rebate payments twice, totalling £3.75m.

Households in council tax bands A to D are eligible for the government £150 payment, offered to help families with the rising cost of living.

But the council said the same payment file was "incorrectly processed twice after it was initially rejected by the bank".

The local authority apologised for "any confusion or inconvenience" caused.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "We are working with the bank to recover the duplicate payments so that the situation can be rectified as soon as possible.

"We would advise residents to check relevant accounts and bear in mind that duplicate payments will be recovered."

The council said 120,000 council tax rebate payments had been made correctly in the city, with about 80% of households in England benefiting from the scheme.