Fuel poverty campaigners told Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday he needs to act now on the national crisis of cold homes.

Britain is second only to Estonia among European nations for the number of people who are struggling to pay their energy bills, according to research by the fuel poverty alliance Energy Bill Revolution.

The warning came as the government urged people to use their heating this winter as part of a plan to prevent some of the 24,000 avoidable deaths that occur each year.