A COUPLE were shocked when their British Gas bill tripled to £320 - even though they were on holiday.
Pete and Dee Marney had been relaxing in Spain for a whole month, only to return home and see the eye-watering bill.
The pair say not only were they not in the country, but nobody was staying in their Norfolk home.
Pete said they also had their gas appliances switched off, as they do every time they head away for a break.
The "really, really strange" situation and whopping figure saw the 71-year-old look back at older bills, too.
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That was when he noticed their gas bill had also shot up when they were away earlier in the year.
The ex-Army veteran told The Sun Online: “It was a bit of a shock.
“Imagine my surprise when I saw £325.19 worth of gas had been used - it’s never ever been more than £100 a month.
“It's excessive.”
The pair are now too scared to turn their heating up to its usual temperature, and instead throw an extra jumper on if they're cold.
But Pete says what makes matters worse is he has struggled for months to get answers from British Gas, and was even given what he’s dubbed a ridiculous excuse.
He said: “After explaining the problem I was not happy with the conversation as the agent suggested that someone had moved into to my property whilst we were away and used our gas.
"And they said there was nothing he could do about it.”
Pete said his “very trustworthy” neighbour is the only other person who has a key to their house, and he just clears the mail and keeps an eye on the place.
And, to be sure, Pete said he looked over his electricity bills, which remained about £2 a day and showed just the fridge and freezer were running.
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He said: “If there was a lot of use of the boiler, the electricity would have gone up.”
But, the months of battling for answers has left the retirees stressed.
Imagine my surprise when I saw £325.19 worth of gas had been used - it’s never ever been more than £100 a month.
Pete Marney
Pete said: “My wife's in her 80s, I’m in my 70s.
“We are both very worried about this.
“It’s keeping my wife awake at night and she is frightened to turn anything on.”
He continued: “I’m annoyed that we are struggling to get anyone to do anything about it.
“I’ve spoken to four different people.
“We have been loyal British Gas users here for 27 years and at our previous address for nine years prior to that.
“We just don’t seem to be getting anywhere at the moment.”
Pete, who has now written a formal complaint to the company, explained that on top of the £325.19 from September, the couple were charged £161.31 for the month of May - while they were also away.
He said their usual gas bill when they’re on holiday is less than £10 a month, while electricity is about £2 a day to keep their food cold.
Pete added: “My view is there’s something wrong with the meter.”
A British Gas Spokesperson said: “We’ve spoken to Mr Marney and apologised for not investigating this sooner.
“We’ve booked a meter accuracy test and assured Mr Marney that we’ll review his bills with him.”
If you're having issues with your energy provider, you can complain to them.
The Sun Online breaks down here how you can simply explain what the problem is and what you want your supplier to do about it.
The company in question then has eight weeks to come to a decision.
If it doesn't or you're not happy with the response, you can take the firm to the Energy Ombudsman.
