Britain is returning to the gloom of the 1970s as customer satisfaction collapses at the fastest pace on record, new data shows.

Energy and water companies were the worst performers in the country as high inflation and staff shortages triggered the sharpest year-on-year drop in customer satisfaction since the Institute of Customer Service began tracking the data in 2008.

Joanna Causon, the institute’s chief executive, said: “In some respects the current environment shares a number of characteristics similar to those experienced in the 1970s - a difficult economic situation with high interest rates, high inflation, and a wide range of labour disputes across a range of industry sectors.”