MANY people are annoyed that the top five executives at Centrica, the owner of British Gas, have collected £16.4m in pay and bonuses at a time when electricity and gas prices are rising dramatically.

I find it hard to believe that these executives actually deserve such huge salaries and bonuses but it is important to understand that £16.4m is a drop in the ocean when compared to Centrica’s huge annual income.

British Gas, one of Centrica’s subsidiary companies, has 12 million customers. Its chief executive, Phil Bentley, was paid £3m last year.

The average annual bill for a dual fuel customer using both gas and electricity is £1,267 so even if Mr Bentley had only been paid one tenth of the £3m, ie.

£300,000, the annual saving of £2.7m would only have reduced the average bill by 23p i.e. from £1,267 down to £1,266.77p per year.

Jim Allan, Hartlepool.