MANY parents will sympathise with mum Jessica Crowther who has set up a petition out of sheer frustration.

She had filled in her Child Tax Credit paperwork correctly and made an honest estimate of what her husband’s earnings would be.

But because they were more than anticipated and the rules governing when the Government will claw money back have been toughened up, the family has now been landed with a demand for £1,500 which must be paid within a month.

It seems that countless more families have been caught out by the same system.

Budgeting is tough enough these days without trying to work out the shortcomings of the Child Tax Credit system.

Surely there must be a better and fairer way so people can receive what is rightfully theirs without having a nasty sting in the tail months after the money they have received from the government may have been spent.

Nationally last year more than a million families were overpaid child or working tax credit and more than £2billion was written off by the government so clearly there are serious flaws.

If the system is to being tightened up to such an extent perhaps it needs an overhaul rather than mere tinkering.