By David LennardA SCHEME that would allow people to pay their council tax bills by using a debit or credit card has been delayed.Residents were told earlier this year that the Waveney District Council scheme would be up and running when the new council tax bills were issued in April - but a a series of problems has meant it is unlikely to be operational until July at the earliest.

By David Lennard

A SCHEME that would allow people to pay their council tax bills by using a debit or credit card has been delayed.

Residents were told earlier this year that the Waveney District Council scheme would be up and running when the new council tax bills were issued in April - but a a series of problems has meant it is unlikely to be operational until July at the earliest.

Chris Sharman, the council's local taxation manager, said: “We were hopeful that this enhanced service would be available to customers at the beginning of the financial year. It soon became clear that this aim was optimistic.”

Before the scheme could be implemented it had to pass strict security checks authorised by the council's bank.

“These tests are designed to ensure that customers' information is not at risk and is held in a totally secure environment,” added Mr Sharman.

“Rather than rush the implementation we have decided to delay the start of the scheme to allow us sufficient time to vigorously test the systems before they are made available to customers.”

The council will not be given the certificate to operate the scheme until it has satisfied the relevant organisations that its systems are secure.

“We would like to apologise to those customers who were hoping to use this system in April, but I hope they understand the need for delay,” said Mr Sharman.

david.lennard@eadt.co.uk