Hull City Council has launched an investigation and issued an apology, after an embarrassing computer error led to thousands of council taxpayers being overcharged. The council admitted multiple payments had been taken from up to 10,000 bank accounts, and that it had been forced to set up emergency centres for angry residents to help sort out the blunder. The error is the latest in a series of embarrassing incidents where public sector organisations have had serious IT data failures. Hull revealed the error was first discovered on Wednesday, and that it would pay any costs residents had incurred, such as bank charges, where accounts had gone into the red as a result of the incident. In an emergency statement from the council said: ‘We would like to reassure anyone affected that they will receive full reimbursement of the overpayments. The council has already identified all these repayments and will be sending instructions to the banks this evening to reimburse the money. ‘In any cases where people have also accrued bank charges, these will also be fully reimbursed.'
