Man locks smart meter in cupboard after it displayed he spent £40k in ONE DAY - 'Faulty'

Paul Davies confronted supplier EDF over the charge and was reportedly told smart meters are “never wrong”. The supplier told him they would be upping his direct debit to £400 a month because of the readings.

When he turned it back on to check, the meter had registered another £25,000 on electricity in one day and £960 in gas, he told GrimsbyLive.

EDF eventually conceded it was a software error.

He said to GrimsbyLive: “EDF were looking at putting my direct debit up to £400 a month because of these faulty readings.

“I can see what I'm using myself by looking at the app so I knew something was wrong.

“This has been going on for a few months, but in that period I reset it countless times to try and fix the issue, but it kept coming up with the £40,000 figure.

“As a result, I've just thrown it in the cupboard and I rely on my own meter readings to keep on top of all my bills.”

Paul said he rang EDF to speak about the matter, but claims the attitude of the staff made the situation even worse.

He said: “Their attitude on the phone was a massive problem.

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He said: “I've just got the readings up and it says I've spent £25,000 on electric today and £960 on gas.

“It's been a nightmare with them and if I didn't notice things could have been much worse.

“Somebody who is a bit older or maybe buries their head in the sand when a bill comes through could have had a heart attack, or worse, killed themselves.

“Everything is going up these days, but this is not what you need.”