About half a million people have been left without their Child Benefit payment, after a technical issue at HMRC.

HMRC says it is working to resolve the batch processing issue, which meant that around 30% of Monday’s scheduled payments did not go through.

Many parents took to social media to complain about the missing payment with some saying they have been left unable to buy food or pay for their child’s bus fare.

HMRC is asking customers not to contact them, saying more information will be provided via social media as soon as it is available.

The UK’s tax authority, which administers Child Benefit payments, says the missed payments will be made, but cannot yet say when.

Danielle, a mum from London, tweeted: “In 14 years, I’ve never had a problem getting my CB on time. I was very surprised by this issue. Hopefully, it’ll be rectified quickly. I feel for anyone who was relying on this money this morning.”

Single mum Esther tweeted: “Be nice if we could all be given a time frame for payment. The way you have handled this is crazy.”

You can claim Child Benefit if you are responsible for bringing up a child under 16, or under 20 if they are in approved education or training.

Only one parent receives the payment per child, but there is no limit to how many children you can claim for.

The payments, which are usually made every four weeks, arrive on a Monday or Tuesday.

“We’re sorry that some customers’ Child Benefit payments have not arrived as scheduled and we are working urgently to resolve the issue,” said the HMRC.

It said the issues that caused Monday’s problems would not impact payments scheduled for Tuesday.

Anyone impacted by the technical problems can submit a complaint online.

Since April, parents have been able to claim £25.60 a week for one child and £16.95 for each subsequent child.

People who earn up to £60,000 a year can claim the benefit in full. It is taken away entirely when an individual earns £80,000.