Bills will arrive late to residents in Harrow after an error by the delivery company.

Roughly 24,000 residents are being given an extra 10 days to pay their council tax following the late delivery of some letters by TNT.

Councillor Susan Hall (Conservative), leader of Harrow Council, said: “I’d like to offer sincere apologies to anybody who was concerned over the late arrival of their council tax bill.

"As soon as this issue came to light, we decided the fairest thing was to give an extra period to those due to pay on April 1st by direct debit.

"We are working with TNT to see what went wrong and to ensure there is no repetition of this."

The council has written to 24,000 residents who pay by direct debt, and were due to have their first instalment deducted on April 1, to let them know the money will instead be debited on April 10.

Normal payment dates will be resumed in May and the second instalment will be taken out as usual on May 1.

The council said 60 per cent of people liable for council tax choose to pay by direct debit. They can opt for one of six dates for the payment to go out but 80 per cent select the first of the month.

These means half of all council tax payers - 48 per cent - could be affected.

TNT is picking up all additional costs caused by late delivery of about £2,000 in lost interest from the council having to withdraw money from its saving accounts to plug its cashflow. There will be no impact on council services, the council said.

People who have any concerns or questions can refer to www.harrow.gov.uk where more details can be found, or call Access Harrow, the Council’s call centre, on 020 8901 2610.