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Land and Property Services (LPS) has apologised after 4,000 businesses were wrongly issued rates bills in spite of an exemption.

The firms had been granted a break in paying rates to ease the financial pressure caused by Covid-19 lockdowns.

In March, Finance Minister Conor Murphy said the measure would help 29,000 businesses at a cost of £230m.

Rates are the property taxes paid by businesses and are a significant expense in retail and hospitality.

The businesses that are eligible for the exemption include airports, childcare, hospitality, manufacturing and retail, excluding larger food stores and off-licences.

A spokesperson for the Department of Finance told ´óÏó´«Ã½ News NI that a total of 592,000 bills were issued this week for the 2021-22 year.

"Approximately 4,000 of these (0.68%) were issued to businesses without having the 2021-22 rate holiday applied," it said.

"Land and Property Services is in the process of contacting those affected to advise them that no payment will be collected and a revised bill will be issued."

"Land and Property Services apologise for any inconvenience caused."

The annual rates bills for householders in Northern Ireland are currently being issued by LPS.