Gas bills set to become unaffordable

INDUSTRY faces the threat of shutdowns as wholesale gas prices soar, alarming figures obtained by Financial Mail reveal.

Record prices of up to 80p a therm, a unit of gas, were recorded last week for the first time as industry players battled to buy gas to meet their needs for the first quarter of next year.

The price has more than doubled since this time last year and experts warned it could put severe pressure on consumers' bills while forcing some sections of industry to close if production became uneconomic.

British Gas warned last week that household bills could jump by 15 per cent because of the soaring wholesale price of gas.

Tom Crotty, chief executive of chemicals giant Ineos Chlor, said his company used as much power as a city the size of Liverpool and that price increases would hit his business hard and very quickly.

An extremely cold winter could cause swathes of industry to shut down, he said. 'If we have very low temperatures, we may not be able to afford the prices. It is a genuine issue. It is grim for us and the UK.'

Ineos is campaigning for Government intervention and has held meetings with both Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks and Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson. 'We are banging on every door,' he said.