The money will be refunded within a week

The company has apologised after 48,000 customers had their June payment taken out twice after a computer error.

Severn Trent spokesperson Kate Cox says the money will be refunded to all accounts within a week.

The company said it is also considering making compensation payments to any customers who have lost money as a result of the error.

Customer complaint

"It is incredibly annoying - we want to apologise for this computer error and are taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again," Ms Cox said.

Severn Trent has three million accounts in its network which stretches from Bristol to the Humber.

David Johnson, a customer from Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, who alerted BBC News to the problem, said he called to complain and was put on hold for almost 10 minutes.

"We will talk to people who have been affected and make sure it is put right," Ms Cox said.

She said the firm realised the error on Thursday when it was discovered that a direct debit payment was taken out on 1 June and again on 2 June.