The latest hike in energy prices will have a “devastating impact” on over 50s in the North East and force more into choosing between heating and eating unless action is taken, the Government was last night warned.

Ofgem said household energy bills will rise again by 1.2% from January 1, pushing the average bill from £1,717 to £1,738-a-year.

The rise comes on the back of a 10 per cent price increase in October, and as about 10 million pensioners face having no winter energy bill support after the new Government scrapped annual fuel payments for those who do not receive pension credit or other benefits.

Fay Scullion, CEO of Age UK in Darlington, warned the latest hike will have a huge impact, despite being just £21 a year or £1.75 a month, after years of “devastating” bill increases hitting the over 50s.

 "I think it will have a huge impact. More and more people are having to decide between eating and heating. People will be worse off,” she told the Echo.

“There will be a knock on impact with people potentially becoming hyperthermic when they shouldn't be and putting more pressure on the NHS.

“Unless the government step in and take action the people in our area will suffer more and more. Prices just keep going up across the board and there is not much action being taken to help people. It's having a devastating impact on people over 50 in our area.”

Ms Scullions comments echoed those of the charity’s national director Caroline Abrahams who said: “Older people, struggling without their winter fuel payment, who were praying for a reduction in energy prices to help them in the New Year, will be bitterly disappointed.

“If you are an older person for whom every penny counts, managing your energy bills until the rise in your State Pension starts coming through from April just got harder.”

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer doubled down on cutting pensioners’ winter fuel payments in interviews with BBC local radio stations on Friday, insisting the policy “makes sense”.

Defending the move announced in July to stop the annual £300 payment to pensioners not on pension credit in a bid to save £1.5bn, the Prime Minister told BBC Radio West Midlands: “When you inherit a broken economy, when you then find out there was £22bn which doesn't appear on the books, and you'd need to balance the books, very, very difficult decisions have to be made."

He added: “The way out of this is to make sure that we’ve got homegrown energy. In the long-term, the way out of this problem is renewable energy which we can have here in the UK which is cheaper and then there’s consistent pricing.”

Meanwhile there were calls for targeted supported to include children in low-income homes who could find themselves spending a winter without heating.

Alex Belsham-Harris, head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, said: “We’re particularly worried about households with children and those on lower incomes, who are most likely to struggle with their heating costs.

“We’re calling for the urgent introduction of energy bill support that is targeted at people who need it most.”

The latest price cap is 10%, or £190, lower than the same time last year, and 57.2% or £2,321 less than during the energy crisis, which was fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

But that “will offer cold comfort to millions across the country already struggling to afford bills,” Mr Belsham-Harris added, after three years of a cost of living crisis.

Ofgem changes the price cap for households every three months, largely based on the cost of energy on wholesale markets, with yesterday’s announcement for the first quarter of 2025. The energy price cap was introduced by the Government in January 2019 and sets a maximum price that energy suppliers can charge consumers in England, Scotland and Wales for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of energy they use.

But it is often criticised for not actually being a cap despite its name, and it does not limit total bills as householders still pay for the amount of energy they consume.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The rise in the energy price cap will cause concern for families struggling with the cost of living. That is why the Government will do all we can to help people.

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“The Government’s clean energy mission is the only way to take back control of our energy, with cheaper and more secure power, out of the grip of dictators like Putin.

“We are acting at speed on this mission to give families the energy security they deserve. Every wind turbine and solar panel we install, and every home we insulate will help to protect consumers and bring down bills once and for all.

He added he is “working with suppliers to ensure there is help available for the most vulnerable customers.”