8m glow-in-the-dark power cut advice magnets sent out - despite assurances of no blackouts

The magnets have been mailed by Western Power Distribution, which covers the Midlands, the South West and Wales.

Bosses hope the magnets will be a memorable keepsake which contains the firm's new emergency number.

But they have been branded as a 'waste of money' by one customer.

People across the Black Country and Staffordshire will have received the magnets, which read: "At Western Power Distribution we want to make it as easy as possible for our 7.8million customers to contact us if the power goes off.

"So we've thought of something that we hope you'll be drawn to - a glow-in-the-dark fridge magnet with our new emergency phone number so that you'll always know what number to ring."

However Stafford customer Mark Whittaker, aged 41, said of the magnets: "I think they're an absolute waste of money.

"Most people don't bother ringing if they have a power cut anyway, you just light a candle and wait for the power to come back on.

"I'm sure they could have spent the money on something more useful."

A Western Power Distribution spokesman said: "The main essence of this is that until recently we had four emergency numbers for our four areas, but now if you ring from Lincoln or Cornwall you have the same number.

"Rather than a letter we thought we'd give people something they can stick on the fridge - it makes it a bit more memorable than a letter.

"It's more likely that people won't throw it away."

National Grid recently made assurances about winter blackouts despite concerns about energy supplies after plant closures.

The network announced it was close to signing up three power stations to help fill the gap left by closures, breakdowns and delays.

The electricity margin – the difference between expected peak demand and available supply – has fallen to 4.1 per cent, the lowest going into the winter months since 2006/07.