YORKSHIRE Building Society apologised to 25,000 homeowners last night after "human error" led to their monthly mortgage payments being debited twice from their accounts.

The society said it was "very embarrassed" by the mix-up which left borrowers temporarily out of pocket.

It will also cost the Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) in excess of £10,000 to put the matter right.

The society said it made immediate attempts to rectify the problem as soon as it was brought to its attention.

The financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, yesterday said it was in talks with the YBS about the mistake.

A YBS spokesman said the problem occurred late on Friday when orders were being fed through the clearing system, instructing direct debits to be taken from accounts.

The society sends the orders in batches and it was the final 25,000 of the 130,000 mortgage accounts that were affected.

David Holmes, YBS communications manager, said: "We took action straight away to have the matter corrected."

Letters were sent to homeowners which arrived at the start of the week.

Banks, building societies and ATM cash machines were primed to inform customers of the complications and to give money payments to cover anyone caught short by the extra debit.

The society also put in place measures to recompense anyone incurring extra charges.

It is understood this could cost YBS approximately 40 pence on every account incorrectly debited which would amount to £10,000.

Mr Holmes said: "We know what caused the problem. It was human error.

"We felt we did everything we positively could and are sorry for what happened.

"We feel very embarrassed. We have a track record of doing things very correct and straight forward at the Yorkshire and when something like this happens we seek to rectify it quickly."