It will slash standard gas prices by 5.4% from 15 March. The company claims the reduction will save customers an average of £32 a year.

The cut follows a 5.3% reduction by SSE to standard gas prices effective from 28 March, and 5.1%  by E.On from 1 February.

Experts have welcomed the price cuts but say they don’t go far enough.

uSwitch.com director of consumer policy, Ann Robinson, said: “Scottish Power is doing the right thing by following British Gas, E.ON and SSE with a price cut but – yet again – it falls well short of what customers have a right to expect.

“This is yet another demonstration that the energy market is broken. In a healthy, competitive market, drops in wholesale prices – which make up around half of bills – would be passed on. We should be seeing reductions of at least 10% on standard gas and electricity tariffs.

“Instead of waiting around for token-gesture price cuts, big six standard plan customers should do their own price cut by switching to a cheaper fixed deal, saving more than £320 a year.”