The government and households are believed to have saved millions of pounds by cutting gas usage last month, a new report suggests.

Analysis by the consultancy BFY Group estimates that the warm weather has led to a decrease in the amount of gas used by households in December.

The report suggests the actual residential gas demand was 63.6TWh, a reduction of 6.1TWh.

Based on the reported temperature in December and consumer behaviour patterns from previous years, analysts predicted that residential gas demand would have been around 69.7TWh.

Given the current support the government is providing through the Energy Price Guarantee, this reduction in consumption would have saved the government £260 million.

Consultants note that customers will also have benefitted from the saving, with a total reduction in the cost of £600 million.