Mansfield District Council is changing to an improved payment system which means residents will not be able to make payments for rent, council tax or other fees from 6pm on Monday 12 October to 9am on Tuesday 13 October.

Online payments and the 24-hour phone payment line will also be unavailable during this time and calls will be diverted to an answerphone to explain to customers what is happening.

Payments can still be made at PayPoint and Post Offices using a barcoded document.

“By reducing the ‘down time’ to overnight we hope that this will not cause undue problems for customers,” said Ian Kirk, the council’s Revenues and Customer Services Manager.

“The end result will be well worth the disruption because it will mean people will be able to pay online and by phone, faster and with better security.”

The new system brings a number of added benefits to the council’s payment system, including:

· Improved reliability with added security checks such as payment verification to ensure that correct payments are being made and received

· The most up to date security features, in line with legislation and security industry standards for card payments

· Better functionality because in time the council will be able to increase the number of services which can be paid.

Initially the new system will deal only with the council’s existing arrangements for paying council tax, rents, business rates, fixed penalty notices, invoices and for garden waste.

The authority will shortly be making online and automated telephone payments available for other services, including arranging a bulky items collection or booking parks facilities, such as bowling or football pitches.