3 OUT OF 4 OAPS LIVING IN COLD HOMES

Labour's cruel cut to winter fuel payments is branded a 'national scandal'

- Jonathan Walker

UP to nine million pensioners were left shivering at home last month after Labour cut their winter fuel payments.

Three in four lived in uncomfortably cold homes in January, new figures show.

Charity Age UK will today deliver a petition with 650,000 signatures to Downing Street demanding action to make sure it can never happen again. Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said: "We cannot and we must not go through this all over again next winter." She stressed: "This is the first Whitehall Editor January since the Government decided to means-test the winter fuel payment and it is a national scandal that so many older people are saying they are cold in their own homes some, most or all of the time.

"The position of those on lower incomes is worse still, with one in three saying they are cold at home most or all of the time." Desperate pensioners say they are being forced to stay in bed to keep warm or choose between heating and using the oven.

Jay, 85, said: "I am constantly cold at home unless I am in bed.

"This way of living is restrictive and unhealthy too."

Their plight comes as households struggling with energy bills face another blow next week when regulator Ofgem announces a new energy price cap.

Industry insiders warn it could increase average household bills by up to £100.

The cap for a typical household using electricity and gas and paying by direct debit has already risen by £170 since last year's general election, despite Labour's manifesto pledge to cut bills.

Amanda, 69, said: "It'll be a case of sitting in my dressing gown with my duvet over me. My monthly gas payment covers my gas cooker. I can't afford to run my cooker and my heating."