When grandmother Dorothy Taylor complained to British Gas that she expected cards on her 93rd birthday, not a wrongly calculated utility bill, the last thing the pensioner expected to receive was a bunch of flowers.

But that is exactly what arrived on her doorstep, just a few hours after the Fairways resident telephoned about the bill.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

“I was sitting in my living room with my daughter and my granddaughter and this lady brought in a beautiful bouquet.”

At first she thought the flowers were from a family member, and she was about to chastise them for spending money on her.

"I knew I wasn’t in debt and I was going to stand up for myself” - Dorothy Taylor, Pensioner

But when she read the card, it said: “Happy 93rd birthday from Deborah Anderson, British Gas.”

The bouquet was sent after Mrs Taylor complained about a wrongly calculated gas bill that sent her into a panic thinking she was in debt.

She said: “In the morning I had a letter from the gas company saying that I owed them some money. I pay my gas each week at the post office and I hadn’t long got a letter saying I was in credit by about £100.”

Mrs Taylor, who worked for 21 years in the Royal Marines officers’ mess, added: “It worries you when you think you’re in debt.

The telephone assistant she spoke to was very helpful and, after checking her account, was able to confirm Mrs Taylor did not owe British Gas anything. She is indeed in credit.

Mrs Taylor told the assistant: “It’s my birthday and I would expect to get cards and not that!”

Soon after she was surprised by the delivery.

British Gas had not responded to the Mercury’s questions.