Unite the union has hit out at the energy regulator Ofgem as "useless" after it admitted allowing the energy market to be flooded with financially precarious companies, 30 of which have since collapsed due to the energy crisis.

Ofgem CEO Jonathon Brearley admitted to MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee today these companies were allowed market access "because there was a time when Ofgem's focus was on allowing diversification".

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Ofgem is not a watchdog but a useless lapdog that has allowed half-baked Tory ideas about diversification to turn an already broken energy market into an even greater calamity.

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"The lacklustre and complacent performance today by Ofgem’s representatives is a clear indication of the total ineffectiveness of the entire regulatory system that is supposed to hold the energy giants in check. No wonder we have the highest energy costs in Europe and rocketing fuel poverty.

|In France, the energy bill increase has been capped at four per cent and EDF is being forced to take a £7 billion hit so ordinary people’s bills don’t go through the roof.

"Here, the energy price cap has risen by 54 per cent and the energy companies are happy because the only ones tightening their belts are taxpayers and consumers. Meanwhile, Ofgem does nothing and tells parliament that they might have done better 'with hindsight'."