HMRC phonelines in meltdown weeks before self-assessment deadline!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thousands of people have been left frustrated by technical problems that have caused HM Revenue & Customs help lines to crash.

The phone lines, which receive millions of calls a month, went down this morning and are still not operating, according to a spokesman for the taxman. They could not say what had caused the problem.

Other users reported the webchat facility was also not working.