EAST Devon District Council has apologised to tenants after their bank details were sent to the wrong addresses following a “highly unusual mistake”.

An internal investigation has been carried out to ensure the mistake does not happen again, a spokesman told The Midweek Herald.

Council house tenants in Honiton were among those affected by the error and they raised the alarm.

The spokesman explained: “In preparing rent accounts for the new rent year, the council has been informing tenants of the new rent payments due after the annual rent increase is applied.

“In a small number of instances we have discovered that incorrect details have been sent out.

“The council has apologised to the tenants concerned and has undertaken an internal investigation to ensure that the mistake is not repeated in the future.”

The spokesman added: “The council makes available a variety of methods to enable tenants to pay their rent and operate an efficient and effective system of rent management.

“It is highly unusual for a mistake to be made in this area of work and we were quick to rectify the problem once it was known to us.”

A tenant, who was affected by the mistake, says she is pleased the council has taken action to ensure a similar error does not occur.