Gas bills 'to top £1,000 a year'

Energy bills could rise by more than 60% within the next few years, a report for the UK's biggest domestic energy supplier Centrica has said.

It said annual average gas bills could rise from £600 to more than £1,000 early in the next decade.

Continuing high oil prices could lead to rises in the cost of both gas and electricity, it added.

Centrica managing director Jake Ulrich warned that gas prices were likely to continue rising "for some time".

"I think it is going to hit people hard," he said.

"I do think we will see people change their behaviour, I think people will use less energy and I hate to go back to the Jimmy Carter days in the US but maybe it's two jumpers instead of one.

"I think people will change the temperature they keep the house, they'll be more cognisant of energy waste, they'll buy better appliances."

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