Portsmouth City Council says it will end Gazprom contract early

Many English councils have already said they intend to end their deals with the Russian energy giant

Another council has said it will end its gas contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom in protest at the invasion of Ukraine.

Portsmouth City Council's leader said it will use a break clause to end a estimated £5.5m, three-year deal early.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson said the council will face a financial penalty, but that is a "small price to pay compared to what Ukraine is facing".

Many councils have already said they will end their deals with the company.

The city council's contract with Gazprom was signed in October. It manages the supply of gas to authority-owned buildings including council homes, libraries and offices.

UK local authorities, which have a statutory duty to find the cheapest deal on behalf of the public, paid £29m to Gazprom from 2016 to 2021, according to data firm Tussell.

The London-based arm of the world's largest natural gas company provides more than a fifth of commercial gas in the UK and works with a number of public bodies, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Mr Vernon-Jackson, a Liberal Democrat, said the authority will exit its contract after a year and will give notice in June to do so.

Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt welcomed the decision.

"The UK will have phased out the use of Russian oil by the end of this year. We are not dependent on it but want to eradicate it altogether," she said.

"Gazprom has been sanctioned by the UK already and I'm glad to see the council doing this."

But opposition councillors said the authority should end the contract sooner.

Conservative group leader Simon Bosher said he would be "seriously looking" at what could be done now and Labour's group leader George Fielding said the authority should make "the breaking of the contract a matter of priority".