Monday 5 May 2008 8:00pm - 8:30pm

Anthony Maley’s life took a terrible turn two years ago after his home was destroyed by a gas explosion on his street.

The company repairing the gas mains was not at fault, so the family were left to claim on their insurance and spend 10 months in temporary accommodation while they waited for their house to be rebuilt.

But to add insult to injury, Anthony was in for a new shock when a power bill arrived in the post from British Gas. It covered the period his house had lain in rubble, when no meter was connected and no gas or electricity had been used.

He tells Tonight: “Here’s the bill. We couldn’t believe it. It’s not a lot but it’s the principle of the thing. I’d told them and all the other utilities that the house was unusable and British Gas were the only ones to send me a bill.

“The builders used a generator and there were no meters installed until just four weeks before we moved back in. So it was impossible that any gas or electricity could have been used. I’ve refused to pay and am still in dispute with them about it.”

Maley is just one of hundreds who have written in to Tonight about their customer service woes with Britain’s biggest power companies. In this programme, Tonight tells the stories of families threatened by bailiffs for money they don't owe and for services they don't even have. It exposes the battles over bills that go on for months despite numerous attempts by the customers to explain errors that have been made.

The programme also looks at why power companies are increasingly shutting off their customers' lights and heat, despite promising the government several years ago that this would only be used as a last resort.

And Tonight delves into the controversy over pre-payment meters – often used by the most vulnerable people in society – and claims that energy companies are failing to recalibrate meters properly and then hitting their customers months later with huge bills for money in arrears.