"Vauxhall's car plant at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside and British Sugar's refineries at Bury St Edmunds and Newark are among nearly 100 factories that have had their gas cut as Britain's energy infrastructure creaks under the strain of the great freeze.

"The National Grid has told British Gas and other power firms to cut the supply to major corporate customers, in an attempt to preserve gas supply for households as the weather causes a surge in demand.

"Opposition MPs said inadequate planning by the government in previous years had left the country heading towards an "energy crisis" that could only dent the UK's fragile economic recovery."

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