WELFARE groups in Dorset have expressed grave concerns over the effects of the latest rise in domestic fuel bills on the vulnerable.

The country’s biggest energy supplier, British Gas and Electricity has announced that its prices are to rise by six per cent on November 16, adding £80 to the average customer’s bill.

Last year, the company’s gas rose by 18 per cent and electricity by 16 per cent – although that was followed by a five per cent cut in the electricity tariff in January.

SSE, which trades as Southern Electric, Swalec and Scottish Hydro, is also putting up its prices by an average of nine per cent from Monday, meaning customers could have to find an extra £1.50 a week. Npower have also announced a price rise of 8.8%.

Dennis Blackler, chairman of Poole Age Concern, said: “It’s dreadful. What it will mean, unfortunately, is that a lot of elderly people will cut back on their heating. Some of them will end up in hospital because of hypothermia.

“There should be some special rate for pensioners, especially if they are on a fixed income. I see a couple of hundred people a week and some of them are extremely worried. They’re thinking of ways of cutting back.”

Richard Bristow, manager of Poole’s Citizens Advice Bureau, said the changes would add to the pressure on hard-pressed families.

“For the vast majority of the clients we deal with, their income is either frozen, or already low if they are on benefits. A lot of people we see are already on a knife edge so an extra £1.50 a week will push them over.We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the referrals we’re having to make to the local food bank. What I’m very concerned about is that people will start making choices about whether to eat, keep warm, or send little Johnny off to school in uniform.

“Forty per cent of our work is benefit inquiries. We don’t see people who are scroungers or fiddling the system. What we see are people who are in a mess because their job has been taken away, a relationship has broken down or they have long term mental health problems. Those are the people that are suffering.”