An independent UK energy watchdog has slammed the performance of Centrica’s residential gas provider, British Gas, at the launch of a new online service which allows UK customers to see which energy provider gives the best service. Energywatch said that on average British Gas customers are three times more likely to have problems than customers of other suppliers, and seven times more than the best provider Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE). Energywatch’s figures are based on the number of customers from each supplier that contact it for help. Of a total of 128,553 complaints made between March and August this year, 80,541 were from British Gas customers and 4,618 from SSE customers. Of the six major UK energy suppliers British Gas, SSE, Iberdrola SA’s Scottish Power, Powergen, Npower and EdF only Scottish Power received fewer complaints than over the same period last year.Graham Kerr of Energywatch said: These figures show how most of the household names in the energy industry still have not got to grips with customer service. It is imperative that high quality complaint handling standards are adopted before energywatch’s services disappear in October next year.’ He also said that British Gas was ‘in a league of its own when it comes to providing poor customer service.