HOUSEHOLDS are set to face a harsh winter of food and fuel poverty unless urgent government action is taken to curb the devastating rise in gas prices across Britain, ministers were warned today. 

Manufacturing bosses across the country said today that higher energy costs could be passed on to buyers alongside a sharp rise in domestic bills, forcing more people below the breadline. 

Earlier this week, experts suggested that next year could see gas bills rise by hundreds of pounds, with a chance that the energy price cap, which protects domestic consumers, jump by £400. 

Analysts predict that rising energy costs will hit households with bill increases of up to 30 per cent next year.

However, businesses have said the extra energy costs they face, which are not covered by the cap, will inevitably see consumers paying more, prompting charities and campaigners to call for government intervention. 

Campaigners have said that the government must provide additional funding towards the Warm Home Discount scheme this winter as an emergency provision, to guard against significantly increased gas prices. 

Fuel poverty groups said the Winter Fuel Payment should be expanded to support more households, as well as continuing the Winter Grant Scheme through this winter. 

Tory ministers were also told to extend and strengthen the £20-a-week uplift to universal credit and working tax credit for low-income households.  

Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, claimed that only co-ordinated, urgent government action will solve the fuel poverty crisis.

He said: “The latest rises in wholesale prices mean we face the possibility of more households facing fuel poverty than ever before. 

“Indeed, when combined with the universal credit cut, the increase in general prices caused by inflation and Brexit-related supply issues, we face the real possibility of fuel poverty becoming endemic in our society.”

Supermarket giant Iceland also warned that the price hike would mean an increase in food costs, compounding the already stark rise in energy bills for households. 

Simon Shaw, head of the food poverty programme at Sustain, said: “Research shows that after paying bills, the food shop is where people have to go without.

“Rising energy prices and the cuts to universal credit are already forcing more and more people to choose between eating and heating. This, combined with rising food prices, means that people on low incomes face a grim winter.”

Garry Lemon, director of policy at the Trussell Trust, said it’s not too late for the government to ensure that the social security system provides people with enough money to cover the essentials, like food and heating.

He said: “The news about soaring fuel prices underlines just how devastating the £20-a-week cut to universal credit will be for millions of families on low incomes.”

In a statement to the BBC, Ofgem acknowledged it was a “worrying time for many people.”

Opposition MPs have said the forecasted gas prices would be devastating for families, warning that the impending crisis is the result of Conservative energy policies.  

Labour shadow business secretary Ed Miliband MP said: “This is a gas price crisis made in Downing Street by a decade of government failure to make our energy system resilient. It is consumers and firms that are paying the price for the government’s failure. 

“The Prime Minister’s speech yesterday was that of someone living in a parallel universe — in denial about the crisis facing Britain’s families and businesses.”

A spokeswoman for Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “The energy price cap will remain in place to protect millions of customers from sudden increases in global gas prices.”

She added that a “clear, well-rehearsed process” was in place to ensure customers are protected and supply is not interrupted. 

Ofgem was approached for comment.