E.ON has been forced to apologised after bailiffs ripped out a pub's gas meter by mistake - despite paying its bills.
Nick Abraham, landlord of Royal George in Skelton, arranged a payment deal with E.ON after falling behind on his bills due to covid lockdowns.
The struggling landlord had paid most of the outstanding balance a day before the final amount was due.
However, bailiffs gained entry using a locksmith and removed the pub's meter when he refused to pay their call-out charges.
Nick, who ran the pub for 13 years, says he 'broke down' and rang the landlord, TeessideLive reported.
E.ON has apologised for the mistake and says it offered to reconnect the meter.
He has slammed the company's tactics, particularly in the current climate, when there are a "lot of businesses" in genuine difficulties.
The landlord said: "We struggled throughout lockdown, trying to keep the business afloat and keep staff going.
"A lot of customers were scared to come back out after covid, so really we've just been ticking over.
"The Royal George was a food pub, which was very good - it was successful. I was struggling with bills, getting behind but I rang E.ON and got a deal sorted with the gas bill."
Nick paid £600 off his debt but the day before the outstanding payment was due, he got an early-morning call from a staff member.
"A neighbour saw five or six lads outside trying to get in the pub. I rushed down there in seconds.
"I tried to move them out the way, it was E.ON but I didn't know that. I got inside the pub and there were four other guys in there.
"I owed £122, but I had an agreement to pay the [following day]. The bailiffs said there was no recollection of my phone call.
"I said 'it's Thursday today, why are you in my pub? I need to pay this before tomorrow - why would I not pay it?'
"It went from £122 to £700 because of their charges. He said 'you either pay the £700 now or we take your meter'. So they took the meter.
"I told him 'that stops me trading, if you take that meter I will close'. He said 'that's not my problem'."
Nick says he rang E.ON and received an apology. The company also removed the extra charges incurred by the bailiff visit and letter fees.
"The lovely lady I spoke to said it should never have happened, "he said. "But I broke down that day. I rang my landlord and said I couldn't do it anymore.
"It was the final nail in the coffin, and that was the end of the pub after 13 years. We were already winding down the Royal George slowly but we didn't want to end things abruptly like that."
Nick says he'll concentrate on his remaining venue and start to serve food, to continue the reputation the Royal George had built up.
"There are a lot of businesses genuinely struggling," he continued. "This is just bullying tactics, taking meters out and threatening people.
"If I was more vulnerable, I might have paid that £700 and never got it back even though it was incorrect. And it could have tipped me over the edge.
"They turned up a day early. It's a horrible feeling to work hard for 13 years, then find someone in your property like that because of a mistake.
"I see pubs closing daily because of bill increases. The whole reason we were on a payment scheme in the first place is because we couldn't pay it in one go. But at least we were paying it.
"I'm heartbroken. It's not just my staff it's my partner and family. We are all in hard times at the moment, I've never been in debt before - it's only since lockdown.
"Everything is going up and they're coming out and doing that. They just wanted to get the meter out because that's how they get paid."
"If I hadn't got the call, I would have gone to open up and seen their letter on the bar," he added, "and that would be the first I'd have known about it. No wonder the country is knackered."
An E.ON spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the fact that we disconnected Mr Abraham’s meter after he had agreed a repayment plan for his outstanding debt.
"We arranged to reconnect the meter as soon as we could and have apologised to Mr Abraham for the inconvenience caused.”
