Departing Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw warns Labour's pledge to freeze energy bills could harm consumers

Labour's plans to freeze energy prices for two years could harm consumers, according to Sam Laidlaw, the departing boss of Centrica, which owns British Gas.

There could be unintended consequences in the plan hatched by Ed Miliband as a result of the falling price of oil, Laidlaw told the Sunday Telegraph.

He said ‘the clear concern’ is that some companies may have bought some of their energy earlier than they would otherwise have done, in order to mitigate the effects of a price freeze. That means their ability to take advantage of a lower price is limited.

Warning: Sam Laidlaw, the departing boss of Centrica

Warning: Sam Laidlaw, the departing boss of Centrica

Laidlaw, who has run Centrica for eight years, is stepping down at the end of the month. He will be succeeded by former BP executive Iain Conn.

He said he has to ‘rise above’ criticisms of his lifestyle including reports he was building a second swimming pool that would use twice the amount of energy to heat an average family home.

He said the suggestion was ‘ridiculous because it wasn’t correct’.