A DISABLED man who claims he was misled into changing his power supplier, is warning others not to fall into the same trap.

Brian Houghton provisionally agreed - in a phone call - to switch to Scottish Power after they offered to supply him cheaper electricity.

But the pensioner, of Three Nooks, Chorley, insisted that his new supplier would have to visit his home as he is unable to bend down to read his own metre.

So a few weeks later when he received a metre reading card through the post, Brian assumed it was mistake, that is until he also received a letter from Norweb, thanking him for his custom and saying the company were sorry to lose him as a customer.

Fearing he would not be able to return to Norweb and receive the kind of personal service he needed as a disabled person, Brian called the Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB).

CAB contacted Scottish Power only to be told that Brian had entered into a written agreement.

"That's impossible," said Brian: "I am paralysed in my right hand and my computer is not here for me to use at the moment."

And he warned other pensioners not to be drawn into making what could be termed a verbal agreement over the phone, as he felt had happened to him.

A spokesman for Manweb Scottish Power said the company had since addressed the problem, and because Mr Houghton was not happy with the circumstances, the account would be classed as an erroneous transfer and amended.

He added: "We are very sorry for what has happened.

The customer's account is in the process of being transferred back to the previous supplier."