Ministers at fuel poverty summit

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Ofgem, the energy regulator, is bringing together Government, industry and charities for a summit to address the plight of people struggling to pay rising gas and electricity bills.

A coalition of campaign groups released on Tuesday figures which, they said, showed the vast majority of pensioners and lone parents were now living in fuel poverty - defined as households spending more than 10% of their income on fuel costs.

Age Concern, the Child Poverty Action Group and National Energy Action said that almost one in five households, or 4.5 million people, were now affected.

According to their figures, the average fuel bill for 65 to 74-year-olds has leapt to £1,000, a rise of 15% for a single pensioner.

At the same time the price comparison service uSwitch.com published a survey suggesting 6.8 million households were in debt to their energy suppliers - with average arrears of £114.

Ministers say that they have put in place a raft of measures to tackle the problem - including winter fuel payments for pensioners - while the energy companies were required to invest £1 billion-a-year in making low income households more energy efficient.