SOARING fuel costs forcing the elderly to choose between heating and eating is the “nation’s shame,” pensioners’ groups warned today.

Hitting out at energy regulator Ofgem’s decision to hike the energy price cap by 134 per cent, pushing average annual bills from up from £1,641 to £1,862 from July 1, both the Scottish Pensioners’ Forum (SPF) and the National Pensioners’ Convention (NPC) have warned it could push even more vulnerable people below the poverty line. 

Warning “standard living costs are completely out of reach for a vast number of our older citizens,” SPF chair David Edwards said: “It is unacceptable that in a modern society, our older population must endure the constant anxiety of failing health just to keep the lights on. 

“We call on the government to take action appropriate to the needs of those living in poverty, otherwise, with fuel prices set to increase again in the coming year, the poor will need to choose between heating or eating again, to the nation’s shame.” 

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said this week: “The way to get bills down for good and avoid these price spikes is to go further and faster with this government’s drive for clean homegrown power we control.”

While agreeing with Mr Miliband’s move to green energy, NPC general secretary Jan Shortt demanded action on pensioner incomes, particularly those on the basic state pension, and the “cliff-edges” they face when claiming top-up benefits such as Pension Credit. 

Calling for a more “holistic approach,” she told the Star: “The government talks about ‘control’, but we need public ownership.

“Heat, light, water and access to cooking are the basics of life. These are basic human rights and they must be returned to public hands.”