Why couple has called time on turning the clocks back

A thrifty couple will not be putting their clocks back this weekend - because it saves money on their energy bills.

Retired John and Janys Warren, from St Georges near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, live 'in the future' an hour ahead of everybody else and save a third on their gas and electricity bills.

The couple stopped putting their clocks back five years ago when they realised the darker and shorter days were triggering John's headaches.

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Living on British Summer Time all year round meant his headache's eased, they could enjoy an extra hour of daylight and save money.

Janys, 69, said: "We have lower fuel bills and far more usable daylight hours with evenings not seeming endless.

"We don't put the heating on until we get up and by then it is warmer anyway. We've saved about one third on our heating and lighting bills.

"The winter doesn't seem so long and I don't seem to feel so tired in the evening. It's nice to be wide awake later."

The couple, who have seven grown up children, get up later when the day is lighter and warmer and say they don't need to schedule their lives around the rest of the world's time.

The decision was made when John, a retired general manager of a refurbishment company, started to suffer severe headaches - sometimes up to eight a day. Experts believe changes in the body's biological clock can trigger neurological pain.

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John said: "I was receiving palliative care and being given morphine in hospital to reduce the pain.

"Then Janys heard someone who suffered from the same thing went to Australia, did not change his clocks, and did not have an episode.

"We decided not to change our clocks and it worked for me as well. It has eased my headaches - but more than that, we just found that being an hour ahead worked for us."

On a typical day, the couple who have six grandchildren get up at 8.30am 'their time' - 7.30am in 'our' time - and go to bed at 11pm, which is 10pm for the rest of the UK.

John said: "It just a far more pleasant way to live through the winter. You get far more daylight and you don't get endless dark evenings.

"The only time it can be an issue is when you're out at an evening function and it means we are technically staying up an hour later than everyone else. But we live a quiet life these days and don't do much of that."

As a result of their clock change, the combined gas and electricity bill for their three-bed semi-detached home is just £900 a year.

But the biggest difference can be to guests Janys explained: "People who come to the house sometimes look at the clock and say 'Goodness, it's time to go', and we have to explain."

Remember: Clocks go back on Sunday, October 27, at 2am as the UK reverts to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).