Bermuda Open tennis organisers have been accused of backhanded banking after charging people for tickets 12 months too late.

The fault was only noticed when tournament directors checked their overheads late last week.

Computer records showed several spectators from last year had not been charged for their $35 tickets.

But the tennis fans were not given a "let'' -- and are now finding the money disappearing from their bank accounts.

One woman told The Royal Gazette cash had been debited from her account to pay for tickets from last year.

Another tennis fan said two lots of payments had been taken from their account to make it a double fault.

One supporter, who asked not to be named, said the extra cash was charged when she went to book her seats for this year's event at Coral Beach, running between April 12 and April 18.

She added: "They noticed that my card number was obviously the same as one of their cards from last year.

"It's not acceptable to find money disappearing from your account when you think you've paid for something a year before.

"I understand the proceeds are for charity but paying customers need to be treated with proper courtesy, wherever the money is going.

"The very least they could have done would have been to inform us well in advance that there had been a clerical error.

"And any error should have been corrected last year. Being told you have to pay for something 12 months later is ridiculous.

"What happens if people don't have the money in their accounts now?'' The championship, sponsored by insurance giants XL Capital, features Bermuda-based US Open champion Pat Rafter as its key draw this year.

But tournament manager Maribeth Anderson said any unpaid tickets from last year would still be chased up.

She said fans would be contacted by phone to warn them the cash would soon be debited from their accounts.

Mrs. Anderson added: "Unfortunately, we had a banking problem last year and we didn't catch it until this year.

"We had a credit card machine which hadn't cleared properly last year but unfortunately it wasn't noticed until last week.

"Then the machine cleared and people's payments from last year started getting processed.

"The tournament is handling it on a one-to-one basis. We are going over and beyond the call of duty with one woman who called us and we are refunding her double payment with a cheque.

"But anyone who had tickets and hadn't paid for them will obviously be debited.

"We're only three weeks away from the tournament and we really don't want any hiccups. But I can't believe people will dispute the payments, knowing the money is going to charity.

"What we would like to do is talk to everybody who was affected so that at least they know they will be paying for last year's tickets.'' Australian Open semi-finalist Nicolas Lapentti will also be one of the star players at this year's tournament. Tickets are still available on 296-2554.