A woman has hit out at her energy provider for sending her a 'joke' cheque - for just one pence.

Sharon Patrick, from Rochester, explained she was given the cash by E.ON as a 'reward' for being a prepayment customer.

But she says she felt insulted when she saw the tiny amount - especially amid the current energy crisis.

The company apologised and said the cheque should not have been sent out in the first place.

Sharon, a 47-year-old chef, said: "When I opened the cheque and saw how much it was for, I thought it was laughable and insulting at the same time.

"With energy bills going through the roof at the minute, sending someone a one pence cheque is a joke."

The mum-of-one said she has been a customer of E.ON for seven years, and buys both her electricity and her gas from the energy provider.

And, when she saw a letter from the company last week explaining she was the beneficiary of a cash cheque, she was excited to see how much she'd been gifted.

But her excitement quickly turned to disappointment when she realised the amount was so small.

She said: "I haven't contacted them yet, but I may do soon to see why they've bothered to send it.

"The funny thing is it probably cost 80p to send in the post, so really what was the point?

"I'd love to know if anyone else has been sent a similar cheque from them because it just seems crazy to me."

A spokesperson for E.ON said: “We’re sorry, this was a simple error on our systems and the cheque should have been stopped from going out in the first place.”