Somerset Council’s improved 24-hour payment system will be upgraded this week.

The upgrade means that Somerset Council’s current phone and online payment systems will be unavailable from Tuesday 26 November to Wednesday 4 December.

While the phone and online systems are out of action, customers can continue to pay in the following ways:

• Bus gates and parking penalties by bank transfer
• Invoices by bank transfer
• Council Tax, housing and garage rents, Business Rates at the Post Office or a Pay Point. Setting up a Direct Debit is recommended to make future payment easy.

Customers will need to use a valid reference number to make the payment.

Whether they call or go online, customers will be automatically transferred to the new systems from Thursday 5 December.

Once the upgraded system is in place, there will be no need to wait in a queue, customers can pay for invoices, for example paying for a Somerset Lifeline subscription, Council Tax, business rates, housing rents and parking fines, 24/7.

The quickest and easiest way to pay for most council services is online. Residents can pay via the ‘Popular pages’ on the Council’s website or by selecting the option to ‘Make a payment’ on the Contact us page. When the payment system re-opens, customers will be transferred to the new platform.

To access the phone payment system call: 01823 210923.