A BLUNDERING energy company has been forced to apologise again after hounding a second Inverclyde man for months and demanding he pay a £5,000 bill that wasn't his.

Scottish Power bosses, who last month were caught harassing a 72-year-old OAP for £13,000 he didn't owe, have now said sorry to former IBM worker Norrie McGilvray - after the Telegraph intervened.

Scottish Power had been hassling Mr McGilvray, 66, since the turn of the year over the supply of gas to his Gourock property.

The company claimed he owed them £4,949 - despite the fact he only took on the flat last November and has a contract with rival supplier OVO Energy, to whom he pays more than £200 each month by direct debit.

Mr McGilvray contacted the Telegraph after we stepped in last month and highlighted a similar issue experienced by Greenock pensioner David Fyfe, who had been incorrectly chased for a £13,000 'legacy bill' whilst he was contracted to a different supplier.

Following our investigation into that matter, Scottish Power said they had been wrongly billing the OAP for YEARS.

Mr McGilvray, meanwhile, has received dozens of letters since January telling him he must cough up cash to Scottish Power, with the most recent correspondence coming from a debt collection agency threatening to force entry to his home and install a pay-as-you-go meter without his permission.

READ MORE: Utility firm says sorry to Greenock OAP after wrongly chasing him for £13,000 'bill'

He said he had tried numerous times to explain and resolve the situation with Scottish Power, to no avail, and claimed his treatment by the company amounted to 'bullying'.

Mr McGilvray, president of the Royalle Social Club in the town, said: "My concern is they don't seem to relay information back to the right source. Their communication is causing havoc.

"They've asked me to create an account with them and login online. I'm not creating an account, I'm not with them.

"It makes me feel threatened for two reasons: financially, because my credit rating is going to get hammered. As far as I'm concerned they're blackening my character, which I just don't like. And that's outwith the worry of someone coming in here.

"These guys are saying to me, which is embarrassing, 'you need to contact us'. I'm saying to Scottish Power 'no, you need to contact me'.

"Mentally, health wise, it's depressing, seriously. I'm lying sleeping at night and I'm thinking about it, it's constantly on the back of my mind.

"I'm not focusing and I'm just expecting to walk in here to find that the locks have been changed or damaged and somebody has come in.

"It's physically tiring. I don't have enough time in the day."

Fearing a Groundhog Day scenario with no successful outcome, Mr McGilvray revealed he considered taking legal action against the company before contacting the Tele.

He said: "God knows how long I spent on this and I just feel I'm not getting anywhere, nobody's listening.

"All I care about is my health and I worry about my home, and there's a lot of other people out there who are the same. It's just frustrating and depressing.

"I'm pretty tenacious, I used to travel all over the world and I'm confident enough to deal with things but this is just a mess.

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"They're threatening people with unacceptable behaviour that could be creating depression, mental health issues, financial ruin.

"You could get blacklisted on your credit rating because of these clowns, I don't even think they could run a circus.

"The threat of somebody coming into my house is the last straw.

"Not a lot of things get me down but I've been pretty down with this and worn out."

A spokesperson for OVO confirmed the issue was not with them, and said that following an investigation and conversation with Mr McGilvray, the details, serial numbers and billing are correct.

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A Scottish Power spokesperson said: “Mr McGilvray has been receiving the bill for another property in his building, an error which we have now rectified.

"We’re very sorry for this and have reached out to Mr McGilvray to apologise and issue a gesture of goodwill.”

Mr McGilvray said he was 'not impressed' by the company's attempt to 'buy you off with an offer of £100', adding: "My concern is that they only care about protecting the company from bad press and have no respect for the customer.

"Furthermore, they resolved this query in 24 hours yet it took me four months to get to where we are today.

"The explanation they have given me in my view is embarrassing, they don't even have the common sense to use the actual meter serial number that I gave to them during a call some time ago.

"I'm really not impressed with them as they are out of control."