A HOLME Valley woman is calling for Government action to tackle problems with Inland Revenue child tax and working tax credit payments.

Diane Boustead, 34, of Holmbridge, says the Inland Revenue has bungled her working tax credit - for the second time.

She has written to Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford, asking her to put pressure on Parliament about the issue.

Ms Boustead, a single mother- of-three, said: "The Government needs to make changes so this can't happen again."

Last April, Ms Boustead was one of hundreds of thousands of parents caught up in a fiasco when new child tax credits and working tax credits were introduced.

Like many parents, Ms Boustead waited weeks to get the money she was owed, including cash towards childcare.

She had three children registered under the scheme, aged eight, six and one.

The youngest was born on March 28 last year, just days before the new credits came in on April 6.

After his birth, Ms Boustead took maternity leave from her job at the Department of Work and Pensions in Huddersfield.

She also dropped her hours from 16.5 a week to 12.5.

She was being paid £800 a month in credits and told the Inland Revenue of the changes in her circumstances.

However, the amount stayed the same until April 1, when she received only £200.

She called the Inland Revenue's national helpline - but could not get through until April 6.

She said: "The phones weren't working; you just couldn't get through. This happened last year and I thought `not again.' "

She was eventually told her claim needed renewing, as it was a new tax year. She would need to fill in a form detailing her change of circumstances.

The form has not yet arrived.

She was also told she had been overpaid by £400 - but in a phone call three days later she was told that she had been underpaid by £1,000.

Ms Boustead said: "Someone checked my records and found £500 last May and £500 in March that should have come to me and didn't. It went to someone else. The whole thing is chaos."

Until Ms Boustead's new details are processed, she will only get £50 a week emergency cash from Huddersfield Inland Revenue office.

Ms Boustead said: "Although I reported all my changes this happens. I can't afford childcare, buy nappies or to feed my kids. We can't live on £50 a week."

She said the Huddersfield office was full of other parents in a similar situation. "Anyone who has changed circumstances is in the same boat."

An Inland Revenue spokes- man said he could not comment on individual cases.

But he added: "Normally, the helpline will be able to help people.

"We admit there were problems last year, but the bulk of people were paid on time. The whole idea about tax credits is that the system is flexible, to respond to changes in people's circumstances."