A blundering phone company got the wrong number when it overbilled a business by more than £50,000.

Matt Archer, managing director of Poynton-based ICP Networks, was stunned when the firm was charged a staggering £52,014 by O2 – when it owed just £520.14.

Fraud investigators at American Express alerted him to the error, which was down to a misplaced decimal point.

“It’s a good job I was sitting down when I heard the news,” he said.

“I could barely believe what had happened but at least the mistake was caught immediately.”

O2, which blamed ‘human error’, has apologised and refunded the money to its account as well as an extra £980 as a goodwill gesture.

But the business, based at Third Avenue, said it was still waiting for the funds to clear after delays in sorting out the mistake, which was spotted on Friday, January 31.

Mr Archer said: “How on earth a mistake like this can happen frankly is beyond me.

“It appears somehow, somebody at the O2 end has forgot to add the decimal point.

“The mistake was spotted immediately and within minutes, we alerted O2 but they said the payment could not reversed.

“Instead, they would have to see authorisation for permission to send us a refund because of the size of the mistake – and the amount of money involved.”

He added: “Fortunately ICP Networks is a thriving business, and we can cope financially with the inconvenience.

“It is extremely concerning to think how it would have affected our business, or those of smaller companies whose business relies entirely on cash-flow – £50,000 taken in error is a big pill to swallow.”

ICP, which sources and supplies phone and internet hardware to other businesses, normally spends between £5,000 and £6,000 a year on its O2 mobile phone bills, with payments made automatically through its American Express account.

O2 said the payment was refunded on Wednesday February 5 but said it could take up to five working days to clear.

A spokesman said: “We have spoken directly with Mr Archer to explain that the funds, taken as a result of human error, have now been refunded.

“We have apologised for any inconvenience this isolated issue has caused and, as a gesture of goodwill, have applied a further credit for an additional £980, which was gratefully received.”