A pensioner who took advantage of the government’s “Warm Front” scheme to insulate her loft and replace her lightbulbs with energy-efficient models has found herself drawing the ire of British Gas. Margaret Pracy, who lives in Brighton, received a correpondance from the energy giant which informed her that customers on prepay schemes who used less than £9 worth of electricity per week would now be charged an additional 54p for the privilege. Councillors, especially the Greens, were quick to condemn the move by British Gas, branding it “madness”.

Ms. Pracy, who is 61, explained that she used the prepay scheme as she could not afford to pay any other way. Councillor Bill Randall has contacted Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Climate Change and Energy, and demanded that he investigate energy suppliers who overcharge the poorest customers and penalise people for trying to save energy.