But when the six-figure sum from Npower popped up unexpectedly in amateur actor Terry Atkinson's bank account, it was a moment of eye-rubbing disbelief - not least as he isn't even one of their customers.

 

Despite living in a shared house and working in a call centre as he pursues his dream of a professional drama career, the 30-year-old resisted temptation and informed his bank there must have been a mistake.

 

However, as of last night, the small fortune - just about enough to cover the chief executive's annual bonus - was last night still sitting in his account waiting to be recalled by the German-owned multinational².

 

Yesterday Mr Atkinson said the astonishing oversight³ showed the Big Six energy giants were making so much money that the small matter of a missing £150,000 was barely worth chasing.

 

'They probably spend that sort of money on a corporate⁴ night out, yet it could heat thousands of pensioners⁵' homes this winter,' he said.

 

'People are having to go hungry because their energy bills are so high, and yet Npower can transfer a vast sum of money by a casual mistake and not even notice.

 

'What's particularly scary is that I haven't been one of their customers for five years, so how have they even got my details?' Mr Atkinson checked his online NatWest account on Tuesday expecting it have less than £70 remaining.

 

Instead, he was stunned⁶（受惊的） to see his balance swollen⁷ by a payment of £151,786.69 from Npower.

 

'I couldn't believe my eyes,' said. 'At first I thought: "Have I won the Lottery⁸?" 'I phoned my bank and they said: "Don't spend it yet". I told them not to worry, I had no intention of spending it.

 

'Npower make millions of pounds a day, they could quite easily afford to take me to court and accuse me of theft if they wanted to.

 

'But I have to count every penny to pay my bills, so to have that sort of life-changing amount sitting taunting⁹ me in my account is pretty hard to deal with.'

 

Mr Atkinson earns less than £20,000-a-year in a call centre and lives in a shared house in Abingdon, Oxfordshire with two friends, paying £525-a-month in rent.

 

His passion is acting¹⁰ - he recently played Algernon in Abingdon Drama Club's production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest - and it's money that could have helped him fulfil his dream.

 

'I'd love to go to drama school, which these days would cost around £60,000,' he said.

 

'In a parallel universe where I do just go and spend the money, I could pay for that and get my own flat as well.' He hasn't been a customer with Npower since he was a student in 2008.

 

His current home has a pre-pay meter which Mr Atkinson said was swallowing up more and more of the friends' income.

 

'We have to be careful to make sure we can pay the bills,' he said.

 

His bank has told him that Npower will have to request the money transfer is rescinded¹¹ before it can be taken out of his account.

 

For now, he has transferred it into his savings¹² account to avoid confusion - and he may be able to pocket any interest it earns.

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