More elderly people in Malvern received Government support to help heat their homes last winter, new figures show.

As the cold months are approaching, charities said the aid promised by the Government is inadequate and called for "further targeted energy bill support to protect households this winter".

The Winter Fuel Payments scheme is a tax-free annual benefit paid to people over pension credit age to help them with their bills as temperatures drop. 

Department for Work and Pensions figures show 20,998 pensioners in the Malvern Hills district received help in 2022-23 – up from 20,707 the year before.

Across Great Britain, just over 119,000 more people got a payment between £250 and £600 than during winter 2021-22.

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But Peter Smith, director of policy at National Energy Action, said the increase does not come as a surprise, since there was a significant decline in the number of recipients in the years during and after the pandemic. 

"More people are becoming eligible for the first time and fewer are passing into the higher payment rate category,” he said.

"For these reasons, more people are eligible but not receiving the higher payment.”

Most people who secured payments across Great Britain last year were aged over 80.

The same was true for pensioners from the same age group in the Malvern Hills, where they received 6,164 payments.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said: "The level of support promised so far by the Government for the cold months ahead is totally inadequate. As a result, pensioners - and many other vulnerable groups - will face the winter with uncertainty and dread."

A Government spokesperson said: "We have protected pensioners with the biggest State Pension increase in history this year as well as boosting Pension Credit – worth around £3,500 a year for those on the lowest incomes. This Government is committed to the triple lock.

"On top of Winter Fuel Payments, pensioners will get another £300 this winter to help with essential costs, and we are bearing down on inflation to make everyone’s money go further."