A BRITISH consumer watchdog has called on the British government to take urgent action to reduce electricity prices in Northern Ireland, which are some 20 per cent above the average for the United Kingdom.

The General Consumer Council has called on the government and the industrial regulator to do some thing in the face of a price gap which they believe is set to widen even more. It penalised all customers in the region and also had the potential to cause serious damage to the local economy.