A power company has given a guarantee it will no longer plague a pensioner with monster bills.

Rita Downing, 78, could not even escape the bills for thousands of pounds she did not owe when she fled Sussex to Wales.

Energy firm npower promised to stop sending them but the bills kept arriving.

A spokeswoman for npower said: "Achieving a high standard of customer service is very important to npower, therefore it is unacceptable we have continued to send incorrect electricity bills to Mrs Downing.

"The problem occurred after a meter exchange was not recorded on our systems.

"This has now been fixed and a correct bill is being sent to Mrs Downing.

"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused. We have also contacted the customer to arrange suitable compensation."

Mrs Downing received a letter from the company, confirming it would no longer pursue her for money.

Her grandson, Dan Hill, from Seaford, said: "It was definitely because The Argus got involved that it was sorted out."

The Argus reported last week how Mrs Downing was horrified when a bill for £1,033 landed on her doormat in Wales, weeks after the bungling energy company had promised to stop sending her whopping charges for money she did not owe.

She thought she had seen the end of her ongoing dispute with the company, which initially charged her more than £3,800 for electricity she had not used at her home in Essex Place, Newhaven.

The problem began after she changed her supply from Southern Electric to npower, then received a bill for £3,735.32 last May. She refused to pay and it was followed by two more bills for £3,821.91 and £3,816.19.

The company told The Argus the problem appeared to stem from an incorrect estimated meter reading and promised to resolve it. Mrs Downing moved to Bridgend in Wales, thinking she would leave behind the vast bills but a new one arrived.

The notice of payment for £1,033 for her old flat was dated December 17, the day she moved out. It was followed by another bill, dated three days later, for £1,061.

Mrs Downing said: "I contacted them again and said I was not going to pay it."

To her horror, she also discovered npower supplies her new home and had already sent her a gas bill for £45 dated from November, before she lived there. She has arranged to change her supplier.

The company calculated Mrs Downing's correct electricity bill, at just £240. Staff contacted her to get a correct reading for the estimated gas bill.