Npower raises gas and power prices

LONDON (Reuters) - RWE Npower has increased its household gas prices by 26 percent and average power prices by 14 percent with immediate effect, the company said on Friday.

The announcement comes just an hour after rival ScottishPower said it would hike its household energy prices from Monday.

"I'm sorry we've had to increase our prices and we've made this decision extremely reluctantly, especially as household budgets are being squeezed so much at the moment," Giuseppe Di Vita, managing director of npower said.

"There is help available for people who can't afford to pay their bills - and we want our customers to get in touch if they're worried."

(Reporting by Daniel Fineren, editing by Anthony Barker)