British Gas is cutting its prices for the second time in six weeks

From today, gas bills will fall by 3% while electricity bills will fall by 6%, cutting £40 a year from an average fuel bill.

Karen Darby, founder of SimplySwitch.com comments: "These cuts are not huge, but this is a welcome, if tactical step. Last week British Gas was criticised for its customer service record, so the energy company acted in the swiftest way it could - by cutting prices.

"Since British Gas announced a price cut in February, other suppliers have followed suit, but the predicted price war has yet to happen in full as EDF Energy and Scottish Power have still to cut their prices. We expect today's news to put pressure on these suppliers to act, particularly as it follows recent criticism from both Ofgem and Energywatch.

“By announcing this price cut, British Gas has stolen Powergen and npower's thunder, as their price cuts come into effect on Monday 30th April.

"As domestic energy prices increased by an average of 80% for gas and 52% for electricity from January 2004 to January this year, we still have a long way to go before consumers are relieved from the burden of high energy prices.”