France to limit energy price rise

Consumers have seen hit by rising fuel bills

The French government has asked its energy regulator to cap electricity and gas price increases for private users to 2% and 5% respectively.

The government did not however say when the cap would come into effect.

French authorities also said cheaper social tariffs for energy would be extended to another million people.

Domestic energy suppliers in Europe have been under pressure to raise prices recently due to increasing costs of gas on wholesale markets.

In a study released in June, the British government estimated that typical French consumers paid the second cheapest gas bills out of selection of 15 EU nations.

The report looked at estimated prices paid between January and June this year in the 15 countries that made up the European community before enlargement in 2004.

The study concluded that British consumers paid the cheapest gas bills when standard usage was considered.

However, this did not take into account price rises announced in recent weeks by two of the big energy suppliers Centrica and EDF.