AN ELDERLY widow says she keeps receiving gas bills – even though she says her flat is all-electric.

Edwina Bull, 81, says the latest demand which arrived on New Year’s Eve – for £185 – is the “final straw” and that she cannot stand any more upset.

But the company involved, Southern Electric, insists she does have a supply to her home and that by law they must send out bills even though she has not used any gas.

Mrs Bull, who lost her husband 16 years ago, has lived in one of six flats in a block in Mountain Street, Rhos, for the past 32 years.

She says that while some of her neighbours are tenants who do have gas, she is the owner of her flat and has never used gas despite the company fitting a meter to her property.

Mrs Bull said: “Most of the other flats here have got gas but when my husband was alive he said we didn’t want it.

“My flat is all electric – I cook with electricity and I have electric warm-air heating.

“I have no use for gas at all and never use it, although I keep getting these bills.

“I’ve had ones for £25 or £30 but the final straw was when I got one for £185 on New Year’s Eve.

“I thought then that a stop should be put to all this because I’m thinking about it all the time and getting very upset.”

She added: “These people won’t take no for an answer. I do have a gas meter outside my house but I recently painted a note on it to say ‘not in use.’”

A spokesman for Southern Electric said: “There is definitely a gas supply and gas meter at Mrs Bull’s property.

“Under the terms of our licence, we have to send out a bill to her at least once a year.

“Even though a customer is using no gas they will still get a bill. The latest bill for £185 is estimated and based on normal consumption for the period.

“If she tells us that she has not used anything, the bill will automatically be adjusted to reflect that fact.”

The spokesman later said that a company official had since spoken to Mrs Bull.

But Mrs Bull said: “They told me the bills will keep coming as long as I have a gas meter, so I told them to take it out.

“They said they are looking into it to see if that can be done.”