Poorly, old and cold...

FREEZING . . . pensioner Valerie Reid can’t afford to heat her home

AN ENERGY giant has been taking 70p off every pound a poorly pensioner puts in her gas meter — leaving her unable to afford heating and hot water.

Scottish Power says Valerie Reid owes them £240 in arrears, so deducts £7 straight off the £10 cards she put on her meter.

Combined with soaring gas bills, it left the 67-year-old with only enough to have the heating on for one hour a day and to take a bath once a fortnight.

Mrs Reid, who suffers from diabetes, osteoporosis and palpitations, wraps herself in a dressing gown and blanket to stay warm and is dreading winter.

Her case is typical of the suffering that soaring energy and food bills is causing — particularly for vulnerable pensioners struggling to survive on pensions.

An estimated five million homes in the UK are in fuel poverty, classed as when an individual spends at least 10 per cent of their income on gas and electricity. Help the Aged estimates it includes one in four pensioners, three million people.

Mrs Reid’s state pension and credit gives her £112 a week, leaving her struggling to pay the bills.

She moved into her bungalow in Goldsmith Avenue, Sholver, in May last year and had the gas reconnected by Scottish Power.

Worried by increasing bills she asked for a pre-payment card meter to be put in this May so she could keep a limit on how much she was using and paying.

But Scottish Power said she owed £240 from the previous credit meter and set about recouping it by taking back 70 per cent of what she put on the new meter.

Mrs Reid said: “I can’t see how I owe that much. I don’t know what they think they are doing.

“I can only bath once a fortnight because I’m scared the gas will run out. I sit in clothes, dressing gown and a blanket.

“I have to keep a certain amount of warmth in my body because of my diabetes. I eat what I can when I can.

My son had to pay for all my food last week but he has a family of his own and can’t afford to.

“If I was at work I could understand and I would pay my bill, but I’m 67 and with health problems and I just can’t afford it. I don’t suppose I’m the only one, there’s obviously others like me.”

Last month, Scottish Power increased gas prices by 34 per cent, blaming higher wholesale prices. This was on top of a 15 per cent hike in February. It claimed it planned to spend £40million on helping protect vulnerable customers.

When contacted by the Chronicle, Scottish Power contacted Mrs Reid and she agreed to them lowering the amount taken off her £10 card to £3.10 to repay the debt.