Belco has been blasted by a customer who claims the company told her she won't get a bill this month because it doesn't have enough staff to compile them.

She said several of her Somerset neighbours were in the same position. The woman said: "Several people I know have not received electricity bills. "I rang to find out why and was told they don't have the staff to send them out to do the reading or do the estimating. "I was told next month we would get both month's bills together but if this is the case they should at least put this in the paper to tell people.'' She said people might forget they hadn't paid their bill and then get a nasty shock when the combined bill hit the doormat. "What happens if they don't have enough staff next month? "Will they then send out three month's worth of bills the following month?'' She said: "The bills normally come at the beginning of the month. You have to pay by the 19th to get a discount. "But I realised I didn't have my bill and others said this too. Some had an estimate but some didn't.'' Belco spokeswoman Robin Sidders said: "Our first priority is to resolve this issue for the customer and any neighbours. "But from our perspective it's extraordinarily difficult to resolve this without knowing where the customer is.'' She said she was not aware of any particular problem in Somerset but said from time to time Belco do estimated metre readings. She said the company had the same number of metre readers it has had for quite some time. Estimates were done if readers had a problem getting access to metres, said Mrs.

Sidders. "Another possibility is we have a short month and we need to complete the reading for the whole island before the end of the month so customers are billed the same fuel adjustment rate.'' But the caller said she lived in a condo where there was no problem with access. She said: "I haven't had a reading or an estimated bill.''