JOHN Smith could not believe his eyes when he received an electricity bill for £47,404.

The inflated demand came from Powergen after Mr Smith asked for a closing bill when he transferred to British Gas.

The retired engineer thought it would be similar to his usual quarterly charge of about £115.

Instead, when the bill dropped onto his doormat it was 412 times that amount.

Mr Smith of Birch Tree Way, Horwich, said: "I couldn't believe they had sent it out, it was just plain stupid.

"It was probably more than a lifetime's worth of electricity but they were sure it was right.

"It was very irritating because I had already moved to British Gas when the bill came in November I wasn't with Powergen any more."

Last week, grandparents Norman and Theresa Stott, of Harwood, returned from holiday to find Powergen had sent them an incorrect bill for £5,403.

Mr Smith, who lives with wife Brenda, aged 60 and son James, aged 17, said: "I read about the Stotts and realised I wasn't the only one to receive whoppingly wrong bills. I wonder how many have been sent out.

"Powergen sent another bill, but that was for £566, still far too high. Eventually they told me to disregard the bills but I can't help feeling that another will come."

A Powergen spokesman said: "We have been transferring customers on to a new computer system and have had teething problems.

"The new system will improve customer services but we have had a few cases where incorrect bills have been sent out.

"We are working to make sure this doesn't happen again."