THE Government's latest pensions blunder will hit the poorest hardest.

Thanks to yet another computing error, countless workers in North Yorkshire and across Britain are facing a bill of up to £1,000 to secure the full state pension.

This will have a very real effect on the incomes and peace of mind of the least well-off. Ministers should have issued a public apology and revealed the full causes and consequences of this mess. Instead, they sneaked out the news with a short statement on the Inland Revenue website, a shocking dereliction of duty.

This is a big mistake by any standard. The letters which alert people to a shortfall in their contributions have not been sent out for years. This means that those approaching retirement may now have to find a significant sum to guarantee a full state pension.

We know what heartache and hardship a deficit in contributions can cause. Last year we reported how women in their 40s and 50s who paid only the "married women's stamp" - often on Government advice - were facing State pensions of as little as 45p a week.

Ordinary people cannot be expected to calculate what rate of national insurance they should pay. We rely on the experts to keep us informed. They have bungled badly, but it is the public who are being penalised.

This is wrong. Ministers regularly insist we take responsibility for our pension problems; now they should do the same, and pledge to make good the contributions gap.

Updated: 10:28 Wednesday, May 14, 2003