A pub landlord is up in arms after enduring a five-month-long nightmare when he decided to switch his energy supplier.

Mark Dorber, of The Anchor in upmarket Suffolk seaside village Walberswick, acted quickly to stave off the worst effects of the energy price crisis by moving onto a new electricity contract when his old one with EDF ran out in May.

He shopped around to get the best deal, and signed up with TotalEnergies in early February. But the transfer was far from straightforward and he has faced a long and bitter battle to get switched over.

He claims EDF dragged its feet and failed to smooth out difficulties. But EDF said the delay was due to an administrative form-filling problem related to the meters - and suggested that was down to Mr Dorber's new suppliers or the broker.

At the same time, Mr Dorber has received a barrage of bill demands from EDF and even a "refund" - and is angry that the charges were at much higher rates than he was signed up to under his new deal. He also believes the company overstepped when it set up a new account relating to this after closing his account in error.

"It's just maddening beyond words. It's like being in the grip of a Kafka existential crisis," he said. "It's disgraceful."

He added: "We have since been charged significantly more than our contract price with no attempt by EDF to honour the lawful contractual arrangement entered into.".

However, he praised the interventions of the EDF customer care team in trying to resolve the matter.

"EDF then sent notes acknowledging the fact that Boudica Inns was changing supplier. All seemed well apart from the fact that we were being charged extortionate out of contract rates," he said.

But then after "torrents of further EDF envelopes" they began receiving more bills, he said, adding: "We even received a credit note."

Mr Dorber, who with wife, Sophie, owns Boudica Inns, has a long leasehold on the Adnams-owned pub and has been there for 18 years.

He has written to EDF to complain, and has also contacted his local MP, Thérèse Coffey, about the difficulties he has faced in changing supplier.

His motive in switching was to try to lessen the effects of huge price increases, he said. Even with Total, his bills have gone up 75%. "We have just put 46 solar panels on our roof, so we are taking this crisis very, very seriously," he said. "It's a matter of existence getting these things right."

EDF Energy said it was investigating. Spokesman Bhavik Depala said: "We are sorry to hear of the customer's frustrations. However, the reason why the customer did not transfer on the requested date because the new supplier did not apply for all meters at the same date. This appears to be a process failure by either the new supplier or from the broker who supplied the sale details."

EDF received notification that he wanted to Total Gas and Power in May, he said. While the account relating to one meter transferred successfully on June 27, the second meter remained with EDF.

"We wrote to the customer to let him know Total Gas and Power hadn’t applied for both meters. We explained he’d need to ask them to resubmit the request for the second meter. The transfer was eventually completed on September 16. Unfortunately, an error on our part meant we closed the account for the second meter at the same time."

This resulted in £14,472.27 being refunded in error, he said. "An account was subsequently created in the name of the ‘owner/occupier’ and a bill issued for the period June 28 to September 16 for electricity used during that time. The account should have remained in the original name. We have contacted the customer and explained what’s happened. We’re also in the process of issuing a revised bill in the correct name," he said.

"The customer is aware that he is expected to repay the amount that was incorrectly refunded. We’re also investigating why the account was closed incorrectly and will ensure the appropriate feedback is provided."

A spokesman for TotalEnergies said: "TotalEnergies Gas & Power has been in contact with the customer and we are currently investigating the reasons for the delay in the supply of electricity. If it is found that TotalEnergies Gas & Power has been at fault we will ensure that the customer does not suffer any financial detriment from the delay in the switch."

The brokers have been contacted for a response.