A SINGLE mum has lost half her income after a computer error "deleted" her two-year-old son.

Tracy Brind, of Poplar Street, off Poppleton Road, York, was shocked when she arrived at the bank on Friday to find her £40 weekly child tax credit had not been paid into her account.

On Saturday, she received a letter telling her she was entitled to nothing for the next year and that the £2,095 she had already received in child tax credit had been an overpayment.

When Tracy called the Inland Revenue helpline, she was told her two-and-a-half year old son, Harry, did not exist. They then told her he must have been accidentally deleted from the computer system.

But although it took a split-second to erase Harry from their records, Tracy said she was told it could take six weeks to put him back into the system.

"I was told it was down to a computer error and that Harry had been deleted from the computer system," she said.

"It is 50 per cent of my income. I had to borrow money just to get through the weekend. I am going to end up in debt because of this."

This is not the first time Tracy, who is training to be a chef at York College, has had problems receiving the child tax credit.

Last April she was one of hundreds of people who had trouble with the system and had to wait three months to receive the benefit.

She said: "I rely on that money. It's a disaster."

Tracy is now worried she will not receive the benefit she has missed out on when the problem is eventually sorted out.

She said: "I have to wait until at least April. It's a lot of hassle when it should never have happened."

She added the woman she spoke to at the Inland Revenue told her she was not the only person whose child had been erased from the system recently.

A spokesman from the Inland Revenue said he could not discuss individual cases, but he confirmed it was investigating the problem.

"Any time people feel they have a problem with the tax credit award they should contact the helpline on 0845 3003900," he said.

He said computer errors were rare and while there had been isolated incidents, the circumstances in each case were unique.

Updated: 10:33 Wednesday, March 03, 2004