You can blame the European power giants for sky-high bills

Foreign power firms are buying cheap North Sea gas from Britain in the summer and putting it into vast storage facilities on the Continent.

They then refuse to pipe it back to the UK when it is needed in the winter, effectively rationing supplies and pushing up prices.

The UK is vulnerable to these strong-arm tactics because we have such tiny gas holding facilities that we cannot store cheap North Sea gas in the summer for use in the winter.

There is enough storage to supply the country with gas for only 13 days, compared with 99 days in Germany and 122 in France.

Yesterday large-scale gas users warned the Commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee, which is investigating the reasons behind the price rises, that Britain's energy needs were at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

Jeremy Nicholson of the Energy Intensive Users Group told the MPs that foreign energy companies are failing to sell gas to the UK when we need it.

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