An eagle-eyed Harwell pensioner has won a price battle with Southern Electric.

When Reg White's electricity bill landed on his door mat last week he gave it his full attention - and his scrutiny paid off.

During the period of the bill the price per unit of electricity had increased.

The company had split Mr White's usage, charging him at the lower rate for units used before the rise and at the higher rate for those used after it.

But Mr White, of Gaveston Road, was quick to point out that as the company had not read his meter when the price changed, the split was complete guesswork.

He was even more astonished to find that Southern Electric had estimated he used more power after the price went up.

He said: "The first 45 days was during the colder spell. After May we had the hot weather and I turned everything off."

"I rang them up and said 'how do you come to these figures?'. It's a massive fraud on the British public. If they want to put prices up, they should have read my meter on the last day of the old price."

Southern Electric has agreed to charge Mr White at the lower price for the entire period - knocking £25 off his bill.

Mr White added: "It's not a big deal, but if it's happening to thousands of people across the nation, it's a huge amount of money."

Southern Electric spokesman Sharon Miller McKenzie said the company tried to deal with bill complaints quickly and effectively and confirmed that Mr White had been offered a bill calculated at the lower price.

She added that when prices were changed customers could receive slightly higher or slightly lower bills depending on when their meter was due to be read. Mrs Miller McKenzie said the company was more than happy to accept meter readings taken by customers at any ti