LONDON (AFP) - A Staffordshire town is refusing to pay back over a million pounds in grants on Thursday after embarrassed civil servants confused them with another English city.
The Department for Communities and Local Government mistook the market town of Newcastle-Under-Lyme -- with a population of just 74,000 people -- with the industrial city of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne -- which is 186 miles away and has 260,000 residents -- when calculating funding budgets, resulting in a 1.1 million pound overpayment.
The market town claims that its 2.5 million pound grant has already been earmarked for projects and they are unable to pay it back.
"It was a large amount but we assumed it was in recognition of the work we've done to encourage business growth," said Simon Tagg, the borough council leader. "We have no intention of giving the money back at this stage.
John Shipley, the city council leader of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, told The Times: "It was an astonishing error by a Whitehall department to confuse the two Newcastles."
A red-faced government spokesman said: "This is a regrettable error."
The Department for Communities and Local Government mistook the market town of Newcastle-Under-Lyme -- with a population of just 74,000 people -- with the industrial city of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne -- which is 186 miles away and has 260,000 residents -- when calculating funding budgets, resulting in a 1.1 million pound overpayment.
The market town claims that its 2.5 million pound grant has already been earmarked for projects and they are unable to pay it back.
"It was a large amount but we assumed it was in recognition of the work we've done to encourage business growth," said Simon Tagg, the borough council leader. "We have no intention of giving the money back at this stage.
John Shipley, the city council leader of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, told The Times: "It was an astonishing error by a Whitehall department to confuse the two Newcastles."
A red-faced government spokesman said: "This is a regrettable error."
