Furious customers have been flooding social media with complaints after HMRC phone lines went down.
HMRC decided to take its phone lines down last Thursday because of ongoing technical issues, but have said that the lines would reopen in stages on Monday. However that hasn't stopped angry people - including parents who were worried about their tax credits payments - taking to Twitter to complain that they were unable to speak to someone at the department to deal with their concerns.
HMRC said on Twitter on Monday: "Our helplines are all open and taking calls. Our online services are working well and we encourage people to use them," but customers disagreed, complaining about the length of time that had been kept waiting on the line. Later in the afternoon, HMRC advised: "The phone lines are very busy at the moment. It might be best to leave it for a couple of days before trying them again. Normally the lines are less busy in the mornings before 10am."
