A WOMAN living in a high rise flat fears she'll be hit with a massive bill after being wrongly told to pay only £1 for her heating and electricity for the last TWO YEARS.
Greenock resident Amelia Stewart has been raising the alarm with Scottish Power repeatedly about her incredibly low charges - at a time when energy bills are soaring to record highs.
But despite telling them her meter must be faulty they failed to visit her flat to fix it - until the Greenock Telegraph stepped in.
Amelia, 77, from Rankin Court, said: "They said I only need to pay £1 a month.
"That is ridiculous, even for a high rise flat.
"I am scared that I'll end up getting hit with a massive bill for the last two years.
"When I phone them to say the meter must be faulty, they never come to check it.
"They just keep telling me to put in another accurate reading.
"I don't want to end up owing them thousands of pounds."
Amelia's case is one of a catalogue of heating and electricity supply issues at Rankin Court.
Other residents had problems with their storage heating systems failing to switch on at the right times.
Ward councillor Tommy McVey was asked to intervene by the residents' association as complaints from residents in the building, which is owned by River Clyde Homes, began to build up.
He wrote to Scottish Power asking for a meeting with the residents, but did not receive any response until the local newspaper contacted the energy firm.
Now Scottish Power has confirmed to McVey that they will come and speak to the residents who are having problems.
Cllr McVey said: "It is disappointing from Scottish Power - I have tried repeatedly to get someone just to come down and talk to the residents about all the issues.
"There are quite a few people affected by problems with their meters and heating.
"I was contacted by the residents' association about a number of problems.
"I got in touch with River Clyde Homes but I was told we would need to speak to Scottish Power.
"All we wanted was face to face talks to sort it all out."
After the newspaper contacted Scottish Power, a liaison officer was immediately sent out on the same day to speak with Stewart - and it emerged she had a faulty meter.
A Scottish Power spokeswoman said: “Our community liaison manager has visited Rankin Court twice in the last few days in an effort to get a clearer understanding of the issues being experienced by some residents - this includes a visit to Mrs Stewart.
"A further visit to the property is being arranged and we’re working to co-ordinate this in conjunction with Councillor McVey and the residents’ association.
"This will hopefully allow us to identify the issues and who is responsible for resolving these.”
