Yorkshire pensioner threatened over electric bill for fried chicken shop he has nothing to do with

Alan Parkin, of Heeley, near Sheffield, said the first few bills he got in the post ordering him to pay the electric for ‘USA Fried Chicken’ were bewildering.

But with the latest letter from energy supplier SSE PLC now threatening legal action if he doesn’t pay £625, the 77-year-old retired machinist admits he is “getting annoyed”.“When the first three arrived we saw they weren’t for us and put them back in the letterbox,” said Alan.

“By the fourth one I was getting pretty annoyed. We’re not even customers of SSE for our home.”

Mr Parkin had never heard of the takeaway on Sheffield Road in Chesterfield before the invoices began arriving some six weeks ago, and maintains he has “no link to it whatsoever”.

However, despite calls to SSE and attempting to ring the shop itself, he has continued to receive demands for the £650 energy bill.

But the latest, which he received on October 7, has now threatened the pensioner and his wife Betty with having the matter “passed to our legal team” if he did not make a payment within three days.

“I actually phoned SSE’s customer service and a young lady told me if the letters weren’t for me then to just ignore them,” said Alan. “I tried calling the chicken shop but their manager wasn’t available.

“Honestly, I’m sat in trepidation to see if bailiffs will arrive to take my things. I’ve considered contacting a solicitor. I must have spent an hour on hold with Citizen’s Advice but I made no progress. End of the day, I’m not going to pay this bill. I’ve no connection to this shop at all.”

USA Fried Chicken in listed on companies house as ‘HS Fried Chicken’.

The director is listed as Mr Hawkar Sabir Sharif.

SSE PLC, formerly known as Scottish and Southern Electric PLC, has since confirmed in a statement: “Due to a recent change of details on the business account in question, an error occurred which led to Mr Parkin mistakenly receiving letters to his address.

“SSE has written to Mr Parkin to confirm these were sent in error and apologise for any distress caused.”