A UNSUSPECTING British Gas customer was shocked when he received an e-mail telling him his monthly direct debit payments were being increased – to more than £2,800.

William Pettit, aged 35, moved into his home in Nicholson Mews, Malvern, about a year ago and has been paying £122 by direct debit every month for gas and electricity.

He was shocked to be told his monthly payment was to be increased to £2,846 – £2,809 for gas and £37 for electricity.

To compound things the e-mail was sent to him at 11.30pm on New Year’s Eve, meaning he had to wait until Tuesday, January 3, to speak to someone about the problem because of bank holidays.

He said: “My reaction was initially one of shock and disbelief.

“From a personal point of view I can now see the funny side of this debacle, but if this were to happen to someone elderly it could cause a lot of undue worry and stress.”

British Gas discovered the problem arose because the wrong figure was entered when Mr Pettit’s direct debit was manually adjusted.

It has apologised to Mr Pettit and re-set his monthly payment to the correct figure. “I am really sorry we gave Mr Pettit a shock with our e-mail incorrectly telling him that his direct debit was increasing,”

said spokesman Sian Callaghan.

“We have apologised for our mistake, which unfortunately was down to human error.”