Energy firm sorry for £244k monthly bill mistake

TotalEnergies took more than £244,000 from Mr Langmaid's account

An energy company has issued an "unreserved apology" to a businessman who was mistakenly hit with a £244,000 bill for a month's energy.

Patrick Langmaid, the owner of Martha's Orchard holiday park at Constantine Bay, said had experienced a "nightmare" since the money was taken out of his bank account via direct debit on 28 December.

Mr Langmaid said his normal monthly bills were between £2,100 and £2,700.

TotalEnergies said the money was taken in error after an "erroneous invoice" was issued.

A spokesman said the business would be refunded by the end of Friday.

"We are taking steps to ensure that this error can’t be repeated, and we are also investigating our initial response to the incident, to ascertain what we could have done better upon initial contact and how we can learn from this going forward," he said.

"We understand the seriousness of this situation and the issues it can cause and apologise unreservedly to Martha’s Orchard."

Mr Langmaid said the money had been in his account to pay staff and suppliers.

He suggested customers should be allowed to set a maximum allowable payment under the direct debit system.

"It's not beyond the wit of man to come up with a model that doesn't allow them to take the money in the first place," he added.