A BUSINESS owner who works from home is furious after he received a £12,000 bill for a year of broadband connection.Ben Lord, of Thistledown Drive, Ixworth, runs his own firm from his converted garage and claimed he had received numerous incorrect bills from BT before the latest one.

A BUSINESS owner who works from home is furious after he received a £12,000 bill for a year of broadband connection.

Ben Lord, of Thistledown Drive, Ixworth, runs his own firm from his converted garage and claimed he had received numerous incorrect bills from BT before the latest one.

The 19-year-old, who campaigned for broadband to be extended to Ixworth during 2003 and 2004, said: “I came back from holiday only to find a bill for £12,000 from August 1 to July 28.

“I pay the broadband quarterly so I'm not sure if they are charging me from last year or for next year.

“I run my own business so a bill this size is worrying but I know it is wrong as it is well over what I should be paying.”

Mr Lord's broadband connection should cost him £29.99 per month, which would work out at about £360 for the year.

He added: “I'm really angry. I think the service they offer is a shambles. I have contacted them but they have not done anything about the problems I have had.”

Another bill that Mr Lord said he was incorrectly sent was for a phone system he was renting for his business, Speedbird supplies.

“They sent me a bill for £2,500, which was the cost of buying the system but I was on a rental agreement - they still haven't sent me a revised bill.”

He is now calling for compensation for the time and stress the incorrect bills have caused him.

“The amount of time I have had to take out of my business for this is awful,” he added.

The latest bill was not the first time Mr Lord has been the subject of miscalculations for his broadband connection.

“I have had multiple wrong bills since we converted half of the garage for my business in January and had to move the broadband and fax lines into the new office.

“They terminated my broadband connection because I hadn't paid my bill, but I haven't paid because the bill was wrong and they haven't changed it,” he said.

A spokesman for BT said: “The bill for this customer's broadband connection is a mistake on our part, which we of course apologise for.

“We will be in contact with the customer to speak to him about it and get the bill amended.

“We are very sorry to hear someone is not happy about the customer service and we will talk to him about any issues he has and hope to resolve them.”