CONSUMER watchdogs are not giving adequate protection to vulnerable

customers like the poor, old, and disabled, according to a report by the

National Association of Citizens' Advice Bureaux. It said these people

often had gas, water, or electricity supplies cut off because they could

not afford to pay. Regulators were partly to blame because they had

failed to use their powers to provide adequate protection and to force

companies to allow poor customers to pay at a rate they could afford.