A NEW scheme supported by the county council is encouraging people to save money on their energy bills.

The Big Community Switch scheme works with the public and energy suppliers.The idea is that the more people that join up, the greater the purchasing power to get cheaper energy bills.

Energy suppliers taking take part in an auction to bid against each other to offer the best deal on energy prices.

One person who has successfully made the switch is John from Churchdown.

John, aged in his 90s, had never switched energy supplier but registered as part of the last round of the Big Community Switch in October.

His family advised him to switch and he hopes to end up saving about £500 a year through changing his gas and electricity supplier.

John said: “I have always thought that changing my energy supplier would be too difficult but I was told about the Big Community Switch and thought I would give it a go.

“I had some help from my family but I found the process straightforward and ended up making a possible saving of about £500 which will obviously make it very worthwhile.”

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of the county council said: “Switching energy supplier is often the best way to save money on your bills.

“We are continuing to support this scheme as we know the process of switching can often put people off.  This way all you need is a recent energy bill and the Big Community Switch will do the rest of the work and hopefully get you a better deal.”

Residents need to register their interest with the Big Community Switch by Monday February 2 at the latest.

This can be done online at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bigcommunityswitch or by phoning the council on 01452 42 57 57 between 8.30am and 5pm from Monday to Friday.

People who register are under no obligation to switch supplier.