The local authority is currently alerting around 1,300 residents that they are eligible for a payment. Unfortunately, three emails were sent to multiple individuals and in those emails all recipient email addresses were visible.

Around 600 customers are said to have been impacted by the breach.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has been made aware of the incident.

The council spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise unreservedly to all our customers affected by this data breach and for any distress or embarrassment this has caused.

“Those customers who have received an email which includes others’ email addresses are asked to delete it. All payments will be made as planned to these individuals.

“Individual email addresses were disclosed, this is personal information. The content of the email also outlined that eligibility for the payment was due to the receipt of free school meals, which we absolutely appreciate is a sensitive matter for individuals.

“We are taking the incident very seriously and have discussed it with the Information Commissioner’s Office. We are taking steps to put in place a technical solution to minimise the chances of a similar incident occurring again.”