Brixham pensioner Val Jackson - whose house is all-electric - has had run-in after run-in with the local gas company. She thought she had seen the last of them at Christmas when a £100 apology cheque and bouquet of flowers arrived at her home in Dashpers.

The gifts followed months of harassment in which she received final demands for gas she has never had, threats of court action and even visits from bailiffs over her phantom supply which has been cut off.

Val finally simmered down...until now.

Today she is back to boiling point after a caller arrived while she was upstairs, bed-ridden alone and nursing a broken leg.

He wanted to read a meter...the gas meter !

The pensioner, recuperating after smashing her left leg in a holiday accident, said: "I couldn't believe it when a man knocked downstairs, let himself in and called out from the hall that he wanted to read the gas meter.

"I was furious! I called out to him to come up, that I was confined upstairs and there was no gas anyway.

"He refused to come up, so I had to slide out of bed and crawl to the landing, dragging my plastered leg behind me. It was giving me a lot of pain.

"With my dog alongside, I shouted through the banisters there wasn't any gas supply, it was all sealed off and I hadn't ever used it in the two years I'd been at the house!"

But the meter man insisted his records showed a supply being used.

At that point Mrs. Jackson, who has kept her cool travelling to some of the most dangerous parts of Africa and India, finally lost her temper.

And, screaming through the banisters, she told him "No gas here, understand? Now shove off or I'll set the dog on you !"

The meter man's parting shot, as he scrambled away from the snapping jaws of Gizmo the lurcher, was: "In that case, I'll have to send you an estimated bill..."

It was red faces all round today as British Gas and contractors Accu-read sympathised with her predicament.

But British Gas spokesman Sion Brynach said: "They were just following safety rules by inspecting the equipment every six months.

"They are obliged to check the pipework and the metal working so they can spot any leaks."

He added:" It was a very unfortunate incident."

And he had more bad news for Mrs. Jackson...The gas man will be back...another visit next Christmas!