HOUSEHOLDERS are facing an average rise in their gas bill of £17 next year well above the rate of inflation.

The 5.3 per cent increase, which was announced on Monday this week, has been blamed on the rising wholesale cost of gas, which has almost doubled in the past 18 months. It is the second hike in 10 months.

Mike Alexander, managing director of British Gas Trading, said that the company had held off 'as long as possible and absorbed a significant part of the increase to keep the price rise low'.

He also pointed out that when high gas costs led to a rise in domestic prices across the industry earlier this year, the British Gas increase was among the lowest.

But Stephen Reid, chief executive of consumer watchdog Energywatch, predicted that the news will bring 'real hardship' for the poor customers of the fuel company.

"There's never a good time to announce price rises but anything around Christmas would have made Scrooge blush," he added.

Other gas suppliers, such as Powergen and npower, are now reviewing their prices in the light of the announcement and will make any decisions over the next few days or early in the new year.