More than three million customers switched their power suppliers by the end of July.

That’s a 14% increase in the first half of 2017, according to new figures from Energy UK.

One in five customers moved to a small or medium sized supplier.

Around 385,000 customers switched in July alone – a 16% rise compared to the same period last year.

Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive of Energy UK said: “There are now over 50 suppliers to choose from, which is driving innovation, improvements to customer service and providing an incentive to keep prices competitive as suppliers fight to keep and attract customers.”

The news comes as British Gas owner Centrica announced it would hike electricity prices by 12.5% from September.

The five other Big Six suppliers – EDF Energy, E.ON, npower, ScottishPower and SSE – increased prices earlier this year.