A COMPANY which sells gas for Northern Electric has been ordered to stop its house-to-house marketing amid complaints of improper doorstep dealings with customers in the Birmingham area.

Consumer watchdog Ofgas announced today that it had ordered a two week suspension on Utilities Ltd to investigate the claims of a Midlands reporter who went undercover by joining the company. He alleged that false and misleading information was being given by poorly trained door-to-door salesmen desperate for commission.

A spokesman for Northern Electric said that Utilities Ltd was one agent among many used and the ban was unlikely to affect its marketing operations in North Yorkshire. It also uses its own trained staff for door to door approaches.

He said: "We have made two million house visits and we have only had a handful of complaints. We are now working closely with Ofgas to get to the bottom of this."

The ban comes just three weeks after the introduction of new Ofgas licence conditions that outlaw bad marketing practice.

The regulator has also just announced that the final stage of opening up the gas market to give domestic users a choice between British Gas and new rival suppliers will be delayed by a month.

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