British Gas freezes standard energy tariffs for millions over winter

British Gas is freezing its standard energy tariffs for the winter in a move affecting more than six million customers.

The UK's biggest energy supplier will keep the charges for gas and electricity on hold until at least March.

It comes after rival SSE said last month that it was freezing prices until at least April.

Britain's Big Six energy suppliers have been under pressure to treat loyal customers on standard tariffs fairly.

A recent report accused them of overcharging households and making six times as much profit as they admitted to - claims rejected by the industry.

It prompted a meeting between Energy Secretary Greg Clark and representatives from the energy firms.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said in his Autumn Statement that the Government would "look carefully" at energy markets to make sure they are fair.

British Gas chief executive Mark Hodges said its price freeze would "help bring some peace of mind to more than six million of our customers".

The supplier has also launched a deal allowing households to fix energy prices for three winters until March 2019.

Wholesale energy prices have been rising, leading to the collapse of smaller provider GB Energy earlier this week.

It had recently hiked tariffs by as much as a third, while other small suppliers have also had to increase prices.

British Gas serves about 11 million homes in Britain, with many of them on the standard variable tariffs affected by the latest announcement but others on fixed-price deals.

Shares in owner Centrica fell 1%.