BENEFIT payments have been delayed to more than 2,300 people because of a computer glitch.

A “rare and unexpected”

hardware problem disrupted cash flow to about 10 per cent of claimants in south Worcestershire who were due to be paid on Tuesday.

Instead, people affected by the problem in Wychavon were set to receive their benefits yesterday.

The glitch, which is being described as “storage array issues”, happened on Friday and IT staff have worked through the night and over the weekend in a bid to get systems working as quickly as possible.

Nick Jefferies, of South Worcestershire Revenues and Benefits Service, apologised for the delay.

He said: “We’re so sorry for the delays to housing benefits payments. We understand how stressful this can be.”

Vic Allison, deputy managing director at Wychavon, said: “Ensuring the benefit payments are made has been our number one priority.”