PENSIONERS accused Tory ministers of washing their hands of Britain’s  fuel poverty crisis after charities revealed that one elderly person dies of cold every seven minutes.

The National Pensioners Convention said Whitehall was keeping shtum about new figures showing that as many as two in five older people are rationing their heating for fear of costly energy bills. 

The figures came as the Met Office warned of falling temperatures and snow in parts of Scotland and England in the coming days.