MILLIONS of people in Britain could be forced to turn off their heating and hot water this winter due to an expected rise in household energy bills, new research shows.

A survey by Citizens Advice found that the number of those who believe they will need to take such drastic action increased to 31 per cent for households with children and 39 per cent for people on low incomes.

Nearly 50 per cent of those surveyed said they would need to turn down or off their heating or water if the energy price cap rises by the 9 per cent predicted by experts, as reported in the Morning Star yesterday.