DOZENS of pensioners living in and around Salisbury were unable to withdraw money from their post office card accounts on Monday, when a new hi-tech payment system crashed.

The Post Office said its £500m automated account service broke down at midday.

It was out of action until 3.45pm, by which time many elderly people had already made several fruitless trips to their local branches to collect their pensions and other benefits.

Helen Wanless, a spokesperson for Age Concern, said: "The new system for paying pensions and benefits is causing anxiety for many older people and the worrying events on Monday won't have helped.

"Many pensioners live on a low income and are completely reliant on their weekly pension and benefits, so it's vital they receive their money on time.

"The Post Office and department for work and pensions must work together to ensure this does not happen again."

The new payment scheme was installed last year in a bid to reduce fraud and save the government money, by phasing out order books and girocheques and replacing them with a compulsory direct payment scheme.

Pensioners now have their money paid directly into a post office account or a bank account.

Those who have their money paid into a bank or building society were not affected by Monday's crash.

Post Office spokesman Dan Panes said: "We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused.

"We are now talking urgently to our suppliers to fully understand what happened, and we are determined to do everything possible for our customers to give them the best possible service at all times."

It was not the first time the system has crashed - on July 7, it went down for about an hour.