Power company npower has been heavily criticised by the consumer group EnergyWatch after subjecting an elderly Bradford couple to two years of harassment.

Since 2003, Jim and Vera Yeatman have received scores of letters threatening them with disconnection and legal action, despite paying their bill regularly by direct debit.

Despite the Yeatman's home in Fenwick Drive, Woodside, being a brand new property, they have continually received letters from npower addressed to three different people, relating to four separate accounts registered at their address.

The pensioners have continued to receive letters demanding money and threatening legal action despite being told many times during the past two years that their problem had been resolved.

To make matters worse, npower has now told the retired couple that for the past two years they may even have been paying for a neighbour's electricity. Mr Yeatman, 75, said: "There has been times when we have been scared to leave the house in case somebody came round to cut us off but our bill has been paid each month by a direct debit. Now we find out we may not have even been paying for our own electricity.

"In the past two years I must have made hundreds of phone calls to them and I have been told the words 'leave it with us, we'll sort it out,' so many times I cannot even remember. I do not think even they know what is going on."

The stress from the ongoing disputes has made Mrs Yeatman ill with high blood pressure. Although npower have offered the family financial compensation for the anxiety they have caused, the couple say that they are not interested in money and just want their energy bill sorted.

Mrs Yeatman, 70, said: "All we want to do is pay our bill and have a quiet life. Every time we are told it has been sorted something else crops up. We have never been in debt in our lives and some of the bills they have sent through to us have nearly given me a heart attack. It has affected the whole family. My daughter has had to take over handling it because it got too much for us and she's been in tears over this. There is no real compensation for that."

The couple wanted to leave npower and use another electricity supplier but were frightened that they would be seen as running away from debts, despite being completely up-to-date with their payments.

In desperation they contacted the energy watchdog EnergyWatch. A spokesman for the watchdog said: "npower should be filled with shame and I would advise the couple to go elsewhere for their supply. They have caused harassment and fear to elderly people who have never been in debt in their lives. The fact that they asked for someone to come round to explain the situation and were refused shows they have no concern for getting this right."

A spokesman for npower said: "We take all customer complaints very seriously. We are carrying out a full investigation into Mr and Mrs Yeatman's complaint to resolve this query as soon as possible for them."