Isle of Man gas customers hit out at 'massive' price rises

Manx Gas is run by parent company the Islands Energy Group

Manx gas customers have hit out at what has been branded a "massive" price rise on the Isle of Man.

An increase of 27.5% was voted through by Tynwald, due to the cost of wholesale gas rising by 400%.

Manx Gas CEO Jo Cox said there were "multiple layers of things" which had impacted the price since 1 August.

But gas customers have reacted angrily to the rise implemented by the island's monopoly gas supplier.

Neil Sharpe said he was frustrated by the lack of communication from Manx Gas

Port St Mary resident Diane Parkinson said she was "very cross" with the rise and that customers had been "let down" by the company.

She said: "We're already in what they call fuel poverty. We are all gas nearly here, we've got gas heating, gas water and gas cooker as well."

Neil Sharpe from Douglas said the company should have implemented a "staggered" rise, rather than the "absolutely massive" 27.5%.

Diane Parkinson said customers felt "let down" by the increase

Local business owner Jan Jordan-Canty warned it would be "ordinary working class families" and the older generation that would suffer the greatest from the hike.

She said: "They're going to have to choose between whether they eat cold food or cook, or whether they just wrap up in blankets or put the heating on."

"People have reached the end of their rope already... this is desperately serious," she added.

A 2.1p per unit increase was recommended by the island's energy regulator earlier this month in response to the soaring cost of wholesale gas.

Ms Cox said the key market factors included more people working from home, causing gas consumption to go up.

She said: "Then you had fires and storms in America and that meant that the plants over there weren't providing gas, and then you saw Russia turn off pipes."

"So it was mainly because of Russia actually turning off that supply that meant that everything else went up through the roof."