GAS bosses today issued a public apology after their jammed switchboards sparked angry customers to boil over with rage.

Hordes of householders have blown a fuse after failing to get through to British Gas Trading, which covers the North West

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph has received several calls from irate customers in East Lancashire who have been unable to make contact with local inquiries offices of the privatised company.

One man said it took him 24 hours to get through to a 'human being' from British Gas at the other end of the line.

But gas chiefs revealed that they have been receiving more than 15,000 calls a day from customers. The rise in telephone inquiries had been caused by a revamp of the company's new billing system which was introduced recently.

British Gas Trading spokesman Alan Dixon said: "We are in the process of changing the billing system for 2.4 million customers across the North West.

"People are receiving the new-style bills and calling us with all sorts of inquiries and it has been a heavy week for our phone lines.

"We are addressing the problem by putting in more phone lines. But we do apologise to the people who are having difficulty contacting us.

"In the longer term we are confident things will run more smoothly."

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