A mother-of-three claims she was attacked by her rapist ex-boyfriend after British Gas inadvertently gave him her new address, it has been reported.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges the man punched her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her after turning up at the flat she shares with her 12-year-old daughter.

She moved to the property last October after accusing him of raping her following 28 years of abuse.

Error: A mother-of-three claims she was attacked by her rapist ex-boyfriend after British Gas told him her new address when it sent a bill to her former home in Chelmsford, Essex (file photo)

But British Gas then sent a bill to her former home in Chelmsford, Essex, where her former partner was still living, with details of her new address.

After the attack she claims the man threatened to kill her if she reported it, according to the Sun on Sunday.

The woman told reporters Rob Pattinson and Chloe Mayer: 'Luckily I wasn't seriously injured but I've had to move again.

'I hate British Gas. It wasn't deliberate but they've wrecked everything.'

She added: 'You trust companies like that with your details but this mistake could cost me my life.'

A spokesman for British Gas said: 'This customer is facing an extremely distressing situation, and we have apologised unreservedly for the mistake we made.

'We're doing everything we can to help her.'

Essex Police told MailOnline it was investigating reports of an attack.

Officers chose not to prosecute on the rape allegation last Easter due to a lack of witnesses.

Attacked: The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges the man punched her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her after turning up at the flat she shares with her 12-year-old daughter (file photo)

Last month British Gas hit the headlines after it emerged the company had been forced to ramp up security on a 'smart heating' app installed in thousands of homes.

The action was taken after it was exposed as a 'burglar's dream' which could tell criminals when to break in.

The Hive Active Heating app is intended to allow customers to heat their homes remotely and programme a schedule for when to turn the heating on and off.

But it was revealed that user data was being sent without encryption, meaning that hackers could have tapped into customers' wi-fi and stolen their information.