Some Irish customers of troubled British bank Northern Rock received interest payments on deposits four days late due to a "technical glitch", according to a spokesman for the bank.

The customers had not received interest payments due to be paid on December 31st by yesterday morning. A spokesman for Northern Rock's Dublin-based office said the customers were being paid their interest payments yesterday and that the technical difficulties were being "rectified". He would not disclose the number of customers affected but said the number and amounts of money involved were small.

One customer said he had not received an interest payment scheduled to be paid into his account on New Year's Eve by yesterday morning. Customers logging on to their online accounts were told in a message from the bank: "Please be advised that due to technical difficulties you will not be able to view or access interest payments made on December 31st, 2007. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."

It apologised to customers for any inconvenience caused by the technical difficulties.

The bank has about 26,000 Irish customers. The spokesman said the bank wanted to reassure customers that their money was safe in Northern Rock and that it would continue to be covered by the guarantee made by the British government last September.

British chancellor Alistair Darling is planning to give the Financial Services Authority (FSA) more power to deal with failing banks to avoid another Northern Rock-style crisis.

He has proposed giving the FSA power to protect customers' deposits if their bank was to get into trouble.

Northern Rock was forced to seek emergency funding from the Bank of England in September.