A new model is proposed for conduction in thick-film SnO 2 gas sensors, which offers a good explanation for the ageing effect. In this model, electrical resistance is governed by necks and it results from three interdependent resistances of three different regions of the sample, connected in parallel: a surface resistance which is that of a gas-sensitive, predominantly n-type semiconductor, a resistance, belonging to a different region of the sample, which, due to its interaction with water vapour, behaves like a mixed n-type and p-type semiconductor, and the n-type bulk resistance of the neck, slightly affected by gases and/or water vapour.