A PENSIONER is furious after a mix-up with his electricity bill meant he had not paid a penny for a year.

Len Franklin, 76, of Eden Drive in Sedgefield, was blissfully unaware of the problem until a month ago.

He received several letters addressed to a Mr Shaw demanding payment of an electricity bill, but nobody of that name has ever lived in his house.

He contacted Northern Electric and was told there had been a mistake and would hear no more about it.

But later that day he was visited by a debt collector and, despite another lengthy phone call, continued to receive letters.

Mr Franklin then contacted his bank, who told him that Northern Electric had not drawn any money from his direct debit for 12 months. His monthly payments have now been increased because of the error.

He said: "I'm absolutely passed myself because I don't know where it's going to end.

A spokesman for Northern Electric said the problem was that a customer moved to another supplier and had been incorrectly allocated Mr Franklin's number.