Illegal meter-tampering is putting people’s lives at risk as they resort to increasingly desperate measures to reduce spiralling energy bills, two leading trade bodies have warned this week.
The Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF), together with electrical association SELECT, pointed out the dangers.
As part of a joint statement, Fiona Hodgson, chief executive of SNIPEF, pictured, said: “It is a distressing sign of the times that an increasing number of consumers are resorting to tampering with their electrical and gas meters in an effort to reduce their energy bills.
“Stealing energy in this way is a worrying and illegal practice, often encouraged by widely shared footage on social media. But it risks lives and can have fatal consequences for innocent people close by.
“Such services are often offered by unscrupulous individuals who will bypass services or devices for a fee. But often the methods they use are often extremely dangerous and they can have no, or very limited, knowledge of what they’re doing.”