A CORONER called for a review of the law yesterday after an elderly couple died, one from hypothermia, weeks after their gas supply was disconnected.

The decomposed bodies of George Bates, 89, and his wife, Gertrude, 86, were discovered slumped in the lounge of their £500,000 house in southwest London in October.

Six weeks earlier British Gas had cut off their heating and cooking gas supply because the bill had not been paid. Mr Bates, a retired postman, and his wife, a former civilian police worker, owed the power company £140.62. They had been reliable customers for 63 years at the house in Tooting, where nearly £1,500 cash was found stuffed in a shoe box.

Paul Knapman, the Westminster Coroner, said he would write to Sir Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner responsible for the Data Protection Act, after British Gas claimed the Act prevented it from telling social services about elderly customers being disconnected.

The Information Commissioner’s Office last night denied that the Act would prevent an energy supplier from notifying authorities if they were aware of infirmity, but added: “We appreciate that it is not always easy for energy suppliers to identify those who are particularly vulnerable.”

It is the second time in a week that the Information Commissioner has been asked to clarify the Act. On Wednesday, a spokesman for his office dismissed claims by Humberside Police that the Act had barred officers from maintaining a file on the many sexual assault accusations against Ian Huntley. That failure enabled Huntley to get the school caretaker’s job in Soham, Cambridgeshire, which brought him into contact with Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

British Gas last night insisted that when an employee called round and spoke to Mrs Bates he had no reason to be concerned for the couple’s mental and physical wellbeing. Had he been worried he would have contacted police.

Energywatch, the independent watchdog, called for the Government to make it illegal for firms to disconnect essential supplies because of debts.

Under re-examination by Christopher Morrison, solicitor for the gas firm, Michael Johnson, a British Gas employee who visited the couple, told the inquest that he felt Mrs Bates had been compos mentis.

After the hearing, British Gas said this was the only occasion they had spoken directly to the Bateses. After no payment was received the company obtained a warrant to cut off the supply and on August 1, Mark Phillips, another employee, visited the house with a locksmith. There was no answer and Mr Phillips was able to shut down the supply without breaking into the home.

Dr Knapman, referring to the “dirty circumstances” in the house said: “Had they entered it’s likely they would have seen the situation these two people were living in.” On October 18, Mr Bates, who had died from hypothermia, was found in the living room armchair. His wife, who had died from a heart attack, was on the floor. Mr Knapman, who recorded verdicts of death by natural causes, in the case of Mr Bates due to neglect, said British Gas “seemed to behave in a proper manner”.

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