THE war of words between British Gas and the industry watchdog Ofgas turned sour again yesterday as Ofgas director general Ms Clare Spottiswoode dismissed the company's attitude as "not serious".
Earlier, the company rejected proposals by Ofgas for a new pricing regime at its pipeline and storage arm TransCo, triggering what will be a lengthy Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry.
Ms Spottiswoode told reporters "this has not been a process where we felt they were seriously in discussion".
She said British Gas had held only about four or five meetings with Olgas officials over TransCo and she had met the company only once on this issue since putting forward moderated price control proposals in August.
The regulator added that she had made more concessions to British Gas in August "than I felt comfortable with" in order to "give them no excuse for taking it to the MMC".
British Gas accused Ofgas of pursuing "unjustified and unworkable proposals" that would slash £400 million a year from its cash flow, put the safety of its system at risk and lead to job losses.
British Gas shares fell 6p to 193 1/2p on news of the second MMC inquiry in four years.
