WELSH billpayers are calling for energy suppliers to automatically return any credit to their accounts as households struggle with winter hardships, campaigners have said.

It follows protests in which 20,000 people demand their cash back after a Warm This Winter probe revealed that Britain’s energy suppliers are sitting on over £3 billion of customer credit.

The group’s research, focusing on Wales, shows that 28 per cent of billpayers found it difficult to get credit back and nearly a quarter felt their direct debit payments had been set too high.

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said: “Credit hoarding by energy suppliers must become a thing of the past.

“Over a third of people in permanent credit to their energy firms live in households with low incomes and may have cut back on energy use or other essentials because the direct debits set by energy firms are far too high.

“Let’s hope that once general election fever is over the regulator wakes up and introduces a new licence condition on suppliers that credit balances are refunded after each winter on an opt-out basis.”