A PANICKED pensioner paid £420 to an electricity supplier over the phone after receiving threats that her power would be cut off.

Diana Gibson, 60, who lives with her 87-year-old uncle, John Robinson, was so fearful that their electricity would be disconnected, she agreed to pay the demand immediately - despite never receiving a bill.

However, she said, despite several times requesting bills from her supplier, npower, over a five-month period, she received none.

The energy supplier has been forced to apologise for not sending bills to the property, and has offered Ms Gibson £100 as a goodwill gesture.

The first the pensioner heard was on Thursday, May 18, when a red bill arrived on her doormat, along with a notice that she would be cut off within seven days if she did not pay.

Retired Ms Gibson, of Croft Road, Eaglescliffe, who has no gas supply at the property, said: "I changed over to a super tariff with npower last November and have had nothing but problems since," she said.

"They came to read the meter in January, but said they couldn't read it properly, so would have to come back.

"They did come back, in February, and I received a bill, but npower then told me to ignore that one, and promised to send another one.

"It got to April and I still hadn't received one, so I called them no less than five times in April to ask for an up-to-date bill. Every time, they said 'don't worry, we will send you a copy bill'.

"But each time, I received nothing, until last week when a red bill came asking for £419.33."

She told how npower warned it would disconnect the property on Thursday if the bill was not paid within seven days.

"They had me at my wits end, through their sheer inability to send me a bill," she said. "If they look on their computers, they will see how many times I have called them asking for a bill.

"I have paid the red one because I was terrified, but I don't even know what I have paid for because I have never received a breakdown. I just felt that I didn't have a choice, but to pay."

Ms Gibson said she still has not received a receipt for her payment.

A spokeswoman for the energy supplier said: "We were very concerned to hear of the problems that Ms Gibson has experienced.

"We have tried to contact her to discuss her energy usage, so we can look at ways of keeping her bills down, but we have been unable to get hold of her.

"Simple actions such as lowering the temperature of your home by just one degree Celsius can reduce heating bills by as much as ten per cent.

"In the meantime, we are sending her a £100 cheque as a goodwill gesture.

"We are still very keen to talk to her, so we will also write to her asking for her to contact us."