Nottingham City Council has mistakenly sent out text messages saying people can no longer pay their council tax by direct debit.
An unknown number of people received the text on 4 December warning them that they would be unable to pay their council tax via direct debit for up to 12 months, commencing from 31 March 2009.
While most people assumed the text was a glitch, the council received a number of tweets and calls to confirm the message was nothing to worry about.
Hi Paul, I have just spoken with a member of the Council Tax team- they have advised the text you have received was due to a technical error and can be disregarded. Please do accept our apologies and sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. Many thanks, Kiyra.
— Ask My Nottingham (@AskMyNottingham) December 4, 2018
Nottingham City Council sent out tweets to confirm the message was a technical error, and have also added a notice on all pages of their website to inform residents of the error.
A similar issue occurred on the same day in Cheshire.
Nottingham City Council has been contacted for a comment.
By Katie Ansell