A grave warning has been issued that soaring energy bills and the spiralling cost of living will cost lives across the North East.

Graham Easterlow, chief executive of the East Durham Trust, says the mental health impact on people plunged into financial crisis should not be underestimated.

And he made the grim prediction that ‘there will be suicides’ if more support isn’t given to those struggling to eat and heat their homes this winter.

His warning comes as the energy price cap was announced today (August 26) with an 80 per cent increase on gas and electricity costs sending the average household’s yearly bill from £1,971 to £3,549 from October.

Graham said: “From my perspective, this situation is going to cost lives.

“Martin Lewis isn’t being dramatic in that assessment, we are looking at 45 million people falling into, or at risk of, fuel poverty.

“For communities like ours in East Durham, 72 per cent of our population is already living in left-behind neighbourhoods affected by deprivation and inequality and this, quite simply, makes things catastrophic.”

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The East Durham Trust offers charitable services from debt advice to food parcels and organising community events, but Graham said it is already at capacity and is now having to direct people in need to national services.

He urged the government to take immediate action to support hard-hit residents, saying that measures such as a £450 grant for every household have ‘missed the mark’.

He pointed out that a blanket household grant means people owning three houses would receive £1,350 irrespective of need whereas support should be specifically targeted at people struggling financially.

The Northern Echo: Graham Easterlow, chief executive of the East Durham TrustGraham Easterlow, chief executive of the East Durham Trust (Image: Northern Echo)

And Graham said it was ‘a national scandal’ that Centrica, owner of British Gas, posted profits of £1.34 billion last month whilst ordinary North East people are struggling to simply get by.

He said: “People in our community can’t understand how Centrica can post record profits when they are feeling the biggest squeeze on their income and their energy bills in more than a generation.

“It is entirely unbalanced and has to be remedied at the first opportunity.

“We keep hearing about ‘the next Prime Minister, the next Prime Minister’ but we have a current Prime Minister who clearly isn’t taking action."

Likening the situation to the Covid pandemic, Graham said it was important for communities to rally round and support each other.

"Check on your neighbours, check on your families, we can't do anything about their bills but we can say 'are you ok?' he said.

"We have got to put something out there to say we have got each others' backs because we have to have hope; if we lose hope we lose everything.”

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