SPARKS flew when Professor Richard Walton, treasurer of the Elmley Castle group of churches, picked up an electricity bill for £2,493 for a quarter's supply of power to Bricklehampton Church.

"The bill from npower is usually around £40 to £50 a quarter so this is equivalent to over 12 year's supply," he said.

"Surely they should be able to pick up an error of this magnitude.

"I think they should be ordered to change their computer programme to stop this sort of bill being sent out. What would have been the effect if it had gone to an elderly person or someone vulnerable?"

Professor Walton said: "I know they will put it right when I tell them about it but they should not be allowed to issue bills of this magnitude, especially when they have nothing to go on to issue such a bill."

It is not the first time it has happened with bills for Bricklehampton Church. The Professor said the electricity company previously took money from the account to settle a bill and as a result almost bankrupted the church.

"I have complained on three occasions during the past 12 months about the estimating procedure," he said. "Each time I have been told they will do better next time. They blame the computers, but what the computers do is their responsibility."

Professor Walton said he would now almost certainly be looking for a new supplier. "npower don't seem able to learn from their mistakes and go on doing it. I want this sort of thing stopped," he said.

Npower spokeswoman Beverley Harrington said: "We have looked into this and the bill will be reduced to £45."

She explained: "The problem arose with estimating bills and obviously in this instance an error was made. We have now put in place a system where bills are looked at before they go out and where there is an unusual amount then it can be held back for checking."