Councils could save tens of millions of pounds in energy costs after a survey found that more than 95 per cent still rely on the "Big Six" energy suppliers.

Of 273 councils, 92 were contracted to Npower, 45 to EDF Energy, 8 to SSE, 5 to Eon, 5 to Scottish Power and 3 to British Gas. A further 85 used other large suppliers, 9 used smaller suppliers and 21 did not know.

This means that only 3.6 per cent of councils use small suppliers, whereas about 20 per cent of British households have switched to get a better deal.

Bulb, a challenger energy company, commissioned the research, which estimated that £863 million of taxpayers' money goes to the Big Six.

Read more at The Times.