A pensioner has been bombarded with gas bills for a house 200 miles away – because she has the same name as a woman in Scotland.
Christine Young, 69, was shocked when she received a bill from Scottish Gas demanding she cough up £424.53.
Christine, from Droitwich, Worcestershire, received the bill which was in the name of James and Helen Young for their home in Gretna Green, Dumfriesshire.
Despite telling Scottish Gas about the mix-up in April, Christine kept receiving reminders and final demands.
The retired civil servant, who has never married and has no children, has lived in her home for 54 years.
She said: "I’ve never even been to Scotland but I keep receiving letters to pay Scottish Gas £424.53.
“I started getting these bills in April for a James and Helen Young, for a home in Cadgill Road, Gretna Green, in Dumfriesshire.
"All we share is a surname, I don't know them at all.
"I sent the letter back writing on it 'not at this address'.
“The letters kept coming, and the bills started appearing on my account. I had one letter sent to 'Christine and Helen Young'.
"I have made hundreds of calls, they take hours, you get passed around departments.
“In one (of the calls) a woman said it was an obvious error and would be looked into, but it has never been sorted.
"If anything it gets worse - my 'correspondence address' has even been changed to the Gretna address on my online account now."
Christine, who underwent a heart operation for high blood pressure in 2019, added: "It has been going on for so long now, no one listens.
"You can never speak to someone. I get stuck on their online chat for hours. I just want them to do something about it.
"I have a smart meter, I pay a direct debit bill for my home.
“This bill for the Scotland house is nothing to do with me - I don't know anyone in Scotland, I have never been there."
Christine said in another cruel move her actual bills from British Gas have started being addressed to her and her late mother who died in 2016.
She said: "That really upset me. When mum died I asked the company to take her name off future correspondence but obviously that never happened.”
British Gas and Scottish Gas owners Centrica have apologised for the error.
