A mum was shocked to discover that she hadn’t been billed for her gas supply for seven years - and now needs to foot the bill, which could run into thousands of pounds.

When Suzanne Stevenson moved into her home in Baker Way, Witham, seven years ago, she arranged to receive her energy bills from E.ON online and pay by monthly direct debit.

But she has received a letter from the company stating that due to an “oversight” they had not been billing for her gas since August 2006 and she will now have to pay charges for the last 12 months.

Miss Stevenson, who has five children between the ages of one and 13, believed she had been paying for her gas at the same time as her electricity bills and is angry that she will now have to budget extra cash each month to cover the debt.

She said: “I never noticed that they were only taking out the money for the electric. I dread to think how much it is going to be."

An E.ON spokesman said: “We take all of our customer’s concerns very seriously and are sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused."

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story