Customers must be given more chance to clear debts and forced meter fittings will be banned in homes with residents all aged over 85, regulator Ofgem said.

Charities say the measures are not enough because they are voluntary, but Ofgem says they will soon be mandatory.

Fitting was halted after agents broke into the homes of vulnerable people.

The investigation by The Times, exposing the actions of agents for British Gas, led to a public outcry.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said the new rules "do not go far enough". Citizens Advice said they should be swiftly made mandatory.

A total ban on forcible fitting would need to be introduced by government ministers.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps appeared to confirm the government would take action. Asked as he left Downing Street whether more would be done to control pre-payment meters, Mr Shapps said: "Yeah, we'll be on this."

Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley said the regulator needed to balance managing debt, while also protecting vulnerable customers. However, he said firms' reputations were on the line if they failed to follow the rules.

"We cannot look at everything that suppliers do, so we cannot guarantee there will be no bad practice out there. But we have the ability to go deep into a company to see what is happening," he told the BBC's Today programme.