More details of how Norwich City Council hopes to help ease 'fuel poverty' for as many as 10,000 households have been revealed.

The Norwich Big Switch and Save scheme was launched at City Hall this morning, where it was claimed the scheme could help to prevent as much as �10m leaving the Norwich economy every year.

City council leader Brenda Arthur and fellow Labour councillor Bert Bremner - both members of the city council's contracts working party - gave further information about the project yesterday, which was announced in mid-September.

The council is working with a company called iChoosr, which has been involved with over one million people switching providers in Holland and Belgium.

Mrs Arthur said: 'This is something we can do right now for the people of Norwich. Everyone should sign up and save money.

'We've all heard recently how energy prices are on the rise and this scheme can offer real savings without all the complexity and effort of trying to switch on your own.

'All you do is sign up and we do all the rest and leave you to reap the benefits of saving money on your bills.'

- For full details about the scheme and how the city council believes it could save households as much as �200 per year, see tomorrow's newspaper.