SSE customers are to be slapped with a 6.9% increase in the price of their dual fuel bills.

The energy giant said the increase equates to around a further £73 per year and will affect 2.8 million customers when it comes into place on April 28.

SSE pinned the price hike on the increasing cost of supplying electricity, which it said has risen 14.9%.

It also pointed to higher costs associated with delivering government programmes designed to upgrade "Britain's ageing energy infrastructure".

Will Morris, SSE's managing director for retail, said: "We deeply regret having to raise electricity prices. This is the first increase since 2013 and we've worked hard to keep them down for as long as possible by cutting our own costs, putting in place a winter price freeze and holding gas prices but we have seen significant increases in electricity costs which are outside our control.

"Without an increase, we would have been supplying electricity to domestic customers at a loss."

A typical dual fuel bill will now cost SSE customers £1142 per year and the firm is the latest of the Big Six energy suppliers to announce price hikes.

Eon, ScottishPower, Npower and EDF have all ramped up prices over the past months, hammering households already struggling with rising inflation.